Wanted-1860
Young, Skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert rider willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. $25 per week.
I wanted to ride for the Pony Express the moment I first heard about it. I was getting bored with the monotony of the freight business, despite the perilous aspects that it entailed. I did not quite fit the ideal of being an 'orphan' though, because Ma was still living, and I had siblings, too.
Ma was not thrilled about the idea when I told her about it. She had just gotten me home after a long spell away, and she was not ready to give me up yet. However, when I explained to her how much money I would be making, she reluctantly agreed for me to take a job riding for the Pony Express.
Mr. Russell sent me to talk to Mr. George Christian, the leading wagon master of Russell, Majors, and Waddell. He had doubts about whether or not I was cut out to be a rider, but my personal recommendation from Mr. Russell changed his attitude.
He sent me to Sweetwater, Wyoming to be trained by an ex- Texas Ranger by the name of Teaspoon Hunter. Upon my arrival at the small settlement, I inquired in the General Mercantile where I could find this Hunter fellow, and the location of the Pony Express station.
Cody paused in his writing, thinking about the day he would first met William Tompkins. It had been a warm spring day, but the frosty stare upon which Tompkins had greeted him when he stepped into the man's establishment, sent a shiver down his spine. He remembered the man eying him from head to toe in disapproval and distrust, and felt his own dander spark. The frosty gaze had seemed to soften just a moment when Tompkins had given him directions to Emma's place.
I thanked the proprietor politely for the directions he had given me, and left the store. It was very easy for me to find the place, and I was impressed with the condition of my new home away from home.