The Great Companion

This is a picture of  Bob Haslam..

The Pony Express began on April 3, 1860, During that time, the mail was sent from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California and back to St. Joseph, Missouri. The maximum time for mail to travel was 10 days. Also, it was a hard job to get to be a rider for the Pony Express. Each rider got about $100.00 to $150.00 per month. This was considered very good salary. One of the fastest runs was on March 1861. During that time, a copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s first address to Congress arrived in Sacramento in just 7 days and 17 hours after leaving from St. Joseph. The rider who rode the longest was Robert Haslam but people called him Pony Bob Haslam. The ride was the result of the Indian problems in 1860. He had received the east bound mail (probably the May 10^th mail from San Francisco) at Friday’s Station. At Buckland’s Station his relief rider was so badly frightened over the Indian threat that he refused to take the mail. The Buckland’s Station is Carson Sink, Nevada. Haslam agreed to take the mail all the way to Smith’s Creek for a total distance of 190 miles without rest. After a rest of nine hours, he retraced his route with the westbound mail. At Cold Springs he found that Indians had raided the place, killing the station keeper and running off of the stock. Finally, he reached Buckland’s Station, making the 380 mile round trip the longest record. That was the longest run of the Pony Express. 

This is a picture of the other creator of the Pony Express. It is only the one on the left., William M. Gwin.