Editing Pony Express (section)

==Operation==
[[File:Pony-express-joseph.jpg|thumb|[[Pony Express Stables]] in St. Joseph, Missouri<ref name="NPSStables">{{cite web |title=Pony Express Stable - Pony Express National Historic Trail |url=https://www.nps.gov/poex/planyourvisit/pony-express-stable.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=23 February 2020}}</ref>]]
[[File:Sacramento old town 12-25-10 (9Wiki b.jpg|thumb|The B.F. Hastings building in [[Sacramento]], California, western terminus of the Pony Express]]

In 1860, the roughly 186 Pony Express stations were about {{convert|10 to 15|mi}} apart along the Pony Express route.<ref name="museum" /> At each station, the express rider would change to a fresh horse, get a bite to eat, and would only take the mail pouch called a ''mochila'' (from the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for pouch or backpack) with him.

The employers stressed the importance of the pouch. They often said that, if it came to be, the horse and rider should perish before the ''mochila'' did. The ''mochila'' was thrown over the saddle and held in place by the weight of the rider sitting on it. Each corner had a ''cantina,'' or pocket. Bundles of mail were placed in these ''cantinas'', which were padlocked for safety. The'' mochila'' could hold {{convert|20|lb|0}} of mail along with the {{convert|20|lb|0}} of material carried on the horse.<ref>Riders were issued a Bible, a horn to alert employees at stations of their approach, a rifle, two Colt revolvers and ammunition for self defense. However, every ounce of weight slowed delivery, so riders were eventually issued just a single revolver.
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.buffalobilldays.org/index.htm
 |publisher   = Sheridan Heritage Center
 |title       = Buffalo Bill Days History
 |access-date  = December 10, 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130411065213/http://www.buffalobilldays.org/index.htm
 |archive-date = April 11, 2013
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> Eventually, everything except one revolver and a water sack was removed, allowing for a total of {{convert|165|lb}} on the horse's back. Riders, who could not weigh over {{convert|125|lb}}, changed about every {{convert|75|–|100|mi|sigfig=2}}, and rode day and night. In emergencies, a given rider might ride two stages back to back, over 20 hours on a quickly moving horse.

Whether riders tried crossing the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] in winter is unknown, but they certainly crossed central Nevada. By 1860, a telegraph station was in [[Carson City, Nevada|Carson City]], [[Nevada Territory]]. The riders received $125 a month as pay. As a comparison, the wage for unskilled labor at the time was about $0.43–1.00 per day, and for semi-skilled laborers like bricklayers and carpenters was usually less than $2 per day.<ref name="babel.hathitrust.org">{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106007458745&view=1up&seq=174|title = History of wages in the United States from Colonial times to 1928|series = United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bulletin, no. 604|year = 1934|publisher = United States Govt. Print. Off.}}</ref>

Alexander Majors, one of the founders of the Pony Express, had acquired more than 400 horses for the project. He selected horses from around the west, paying an average of $200.{{sfnp|Bradley|1913|p=25}} These averaged about {{hands|14.2}} high and {{convert|900|lb}}<ref>{{cite journal
|url=http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2b_ponyexpress.html
|title=The Story of the Pony Express
|first=Nancy
|last=Pope
|publisher=[[National Postal Museum]]
|journal=EnRoute
|volume=1
|issue=2
|date=April–June 1992
|access-date=December 10, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021092351/http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2b_ponyexpress.html
|archive-date=October 21, 2012
}}</ref> each; thus, the name [[pony]] was appropriate, even if not strictly correct in all cases.
{{Clear}}