Book Notes

(from the California HISTORIAN)

The Saga of the Pony Express
By Joseph J. Di Certo
Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, MT, 2002, 244 pages, paperback, ISBN 0-87842-452-0

Reviewed by Tom Crews
Pony Express Historian, Contra Costa County Historical Society

The Pony Express was in service from April 1860 to October 1861. Although in action for only 18 months when the completion of the transcontinental telegraph ended its operations, the Pony Express was of great historical significance. The Pony Express proved to the eastern establishment that the Central Route could be used by the railroads to bind our country together. In less than a decade the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific rails would meet at Promontory, Utah to form the Nation’s first transcontinental railroad. The 10-day delivery time of the Pony Express was a revolution in its day bringing political and social news to a hungry readership.

The Pony Express can also be credited with keeping California in the Union during the dark days preceding the Civil War when there was a real threat that California would side with the Confederacy. Because of the rapid communication afforded the military and the timely delivery of news of early Union victories, California and its gold stayed in the Union.

Over the years the number of books written about the Pony Express has continued to grow with some 195 books at last count. The Saga of the Pony Express, by Joseph J. Di Certo, is the latest of these relating the history, legend and lore of this most remarkable venture. Di Certo covers all the requisite areas of historical interest: the founders, the route, the stations, the riders, the historical significance and the financial problems.

Di Certo presents a clear picture of the Western expansion of the United States and the importance of prompt and reliable communication with the people who populated this new land, and as the Nation headed toward Civil War how the lines of communication became even more important. The West was also plagued with much unrest between the Native Americans and the new settlers from the East. He has taken steps beyond just a recitation of known facts and fiction and has gone to great lengths to place the Pony Express within the historical context of the turbulent events of the mid-19th century.

While the Pony Express was a great contribution to the communications of the time, it was also a financial disaster to its founders and investors. Di Certo goes to some length to explain clearly the tangled financial web in which the service found itself. As Di Certo relates many of the rides and adventures of the Pony Riders, the reader can well understand and relive the dangers and hardships that these young men found themselves caught in.

I found this to be an easy reading book with many new insights to the history of the time that kept my interest throughout its length. The book has quite a number of historical photographs, many not seen before. I would recommend this book to any who are interested in this most adventurous time.