History is alive in the historic home of the Pony Express and Jesse James.
Fur trapper Joseph Robidoux founded this town on the Missouri River in 1843, and westbound travel helped it grow. Emigrants stopped here by the thousands to buy supplies, their wagons crowding the streets as they waited to be ferried across the river and continue their treks.
But for modern travelers, Jesse James and the Pony Express draw most of the attention.
The Pony Express National Museum offers a terrific venue to relive the braveryof the young men who made breakneck rides from St. Joseph to Sacramento and back.
When visitors step inside the refurbished Pony Express stables, a sensor triggers a recording telling the story of Johnny Fry. To the sound of a cannon blast, he rode out of the stable at 7:15 p.m. on April 3, 1860, beginning the Pony Express era, which lasted only 18 months.
See life-size figures of Fry, his father and another man preparing to open the stable door. One museum room has multiple panels with information about heroes like Bronco Charlie. He started as a substitute rider for Pony Express at age 11 and became the last living former rider, dying at age 105.
In 1860, the first floor of Patee House Museum, now a National Historic Landmark, served as the Pony Express’s headquarters.
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av True West.
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Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av True West.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Where Did the Loot Go? - This is one of those find the money stories. And it's one that has attracted treasure hunters for more than 150 years.
Whatever happened to the $97,000 from the Reno Gang's last heist? Up to a dozen members of the Reno Gang stopped a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis train at a watering station in southern Indiana. The outlaws had prior intelligence about its main load: express car safes held about $97,000 in government bonds and notes. In the process of the job, one of the crew was killed and two others hurt. The gang made a clean getaway with the loot.
Hero of Horsepower - Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
From the Basin to the Plains
Discover Wyoming on a road trip to Cody, Casper and Cheyenne.
COLLECTING AMERICAN OUTLAWS
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang's history in more ways than one.
Spencer's West
After the Civil War, savvy frontiersmen chose the Spencer repeating carbine.
Firearms With a Storied Past
Rock Island gavels off high profits from historic firearms.
She Means Business!
An energetic and ambitious woman has come to Lincoln, New Mexico, to restore the town's legendary Ellis Store.
Ride that Train!
HERITAGE RAILROADS KEEP THE OLD WEST ALIVE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
Saddle Up with a Western
Old West fiction and nonfiction are the perfect genres to fill your summer reading list.
RENEGADES OF THE RAILS
RAILROADS WERE OPEN SEASON FOR OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORY OUTLAW GANGS.