Editing Pony Express (section)

===Historical research===
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[[File:Pony Express5 St Joseph 1860.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Mail from St. Joseph with a St. Joseph Pony Express postmark along with a city of destination postmark, San Francisco: The envelope also has an issue of 1855, Washington 10-cent postage affixed to it.<ref name="Scotts">Scotts Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps</ref>]]
The foundation of accountable Pony Express history rests in the few tangible areas where records, papers, letters, and mailings have yielded the most historical evidence. Until the 1950s, most of what was known about the short-lived Pony Express was the product of a few accounts, hearsay, and folklore, generally true in their overall aspects, but lacking in verification in many areas for those who wanted to explore the history surrounding the founders, the various riders, and station keepers, or who were interested in stations or forts along the Pony Express route.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The most complete books on the Pony Express are ''The Story of the Pony Express'' by Raymond and Mary Settle and ''Saddles and Spurs'' by Roy Bloss. Settle's account is unique, as he was the first writer and historical researcher to make use of Pony Express founder William B. Waddell's papers, now in a collection at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Mr. Settle wrote in the mid-1950s. Mr. Bloss was a writer for the Pony Express Centennial. While Settle's work was published generally without his annotations and notes, the writer's background here is unique and Settle does have an excellent bibliography. When Settle prepared to publish his well-researched account, he had a good volume of footnotes, citations prepared, but the editors chose not to use most of them. Instead, they opted for a less expensive approach to print and publish and released an accurate, but simplified account. Settle was not pleased with this new and sudden development, as he put much time and effort into the annotations. Yet, the account Settle wrote was and is a definitive one and is considered the best account on the history of the Pony Express among many historians.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01914.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320010743/http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01914.html|archive-date=20 March 2012|title=Russell, William Hepburn |encyclopedia=American National Biography |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2022}}{{original research inline|date=April 2022}}