Near McGill in White Pine County, Nevada — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Strength and Endurance
As each of the more than 100 stations spread along the route, relays of horses needed to be kept in sufficient numbers to meet the demands of the relay system. As the C.O.C.&P.P.E.C prepared for the "start-up" of the Pony Express, the company estimated that it would take approximately 75 horses to make the nearly 2,000 mile trip from Missouri to California.
A little more than two months before the first riders left from St. Joseph and Sacramento, the firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell began purchasing 500 of the best horses available, paying as much as $200 a head for some stock. One ad, posted in the Kansas Leavenworth Daily Times, asked for "200 grey mares, from four to seven years old, not to exceed fifteen hands high, well broke to the saddle and warranted sound ..."
So, just how far and how long can a horse run? A modern-day horse in good shape can travel at a full gallop on flat terrain for maybe five to eight miles. Over the mountainous terrain in the Sierra Nevada, a horse and rider may be able to cover five miles. Pony Express mustangs could travel at speeds of about 10 miles an hour, but at times could gallop at speeds up to 25 miles per hour. At a full gallop, the distance that the horse could travel before becoming exhausted depended on several variables—if it was a hot or cool day, state of health, and when the horse last had a drink of water.
A good Pony Express rider rode his horse at a steady spring and generally galloped the horse only to get out of harm's way. None were easy to ride, but all agreed that in a race for life and mounted on a half-broken mustang, the express rider could leave danger far behind.
"There were about eighty pony riders in the saddle all the time, night and day, stretching in a long, scattering procession from Missouri to California, forty flying eastward, and forty toward the west, and among them making four hundred gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and see a deal of scenery every single day of the year."—Mark Twin, Roughing It, 1872
"The worst imps of Satan in the business. The only way I could master them was to throw them and get a rope around each foot and stake them out, and have a man on the head and another on the body while I trimmed the feet and nailed the shoes on ... It generally took half a day to shoe one of them."
—Pony Express Farrier and Station Keeper, Levi Hansel, in 1901 describing his experience shoeing half-wild California mustangs at Seneca, Kansas. Photograph—D.B. Young, wild mustangs near Simpson Springs Pony Express Station, January 2010.
Erected by National Pony Express Association, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Roads & Vehicles. In addition, it is included in the Pony Express National Historic Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1861.
Location. 39° 47.845′ N, 114° 44.444′ W. Marker is near McGill, Nevada, in White Pine County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of U.S. 93 and White Pine County Road 18 (Nevada Route 893), on the right when traveling north. Marker is located at the Schellbourne Rest Area. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mc Gill NV 89318, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Speedy Riders (here, next to this marker); The Crowds Cheered On ... (a few steps from this marker); The Pony Express (within shouting distance of this marker); The Lincoln Highway (within shouting distance of this marker); Schellbourne: Gateway to the Goshute Nation (within shouting distance of this marker); Schellbourne (within shouting distance of this marker); Cherry Creek (approx. 10˝ miles away); Cherry Creek School (approx. 10.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in McGill.
More about this marker. Marker is one of three Pony Express National Trail interpretive signs for the Schell Creek Station.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on July 29, 2013, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 455 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 29, 2013, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.