Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/24

16 changed his fancy costume for what might be called a business suit. Hardly had the boat touched the other shore, when the eager pony was off again on a dead run.

It is worth remembering in these later days, that the route of the Pony Express westward was that which was followed by the Mormons in 1847, and by the emigrants a year or two later when on their way to California in quest of gold. Crossing the Missouri, the messenger veered slightly to the southwest, holding to the course until he struck the old military road, forty-odd miles distant, where he shifted to the northwest and crossed the Kickapoo Reservation. Then in succession he passed through Grenada, Logchain, Seneca, Ash Point, Guittard’s, Marysville, Hollenburg, thence following Little Blue Valley to Rock Creek, Big Sandy, Liberty Farm, across prairies to Thirty-Two Mile Creek, over the divide, sand hills and plains to Platte River, and then westward and up that valley to Fort Kearny.

When the Pony Express began operations, the messengers from St. Joe rode to the station of Guittard, 125 miles away. This was done every week, until two months later the service