THE PONY EXPRESS by Lianna Hawkins

The history of the wild west has always been a fascination for me. I’ve started to design my next series while writing book three in my Runaway Outlaws series. Part of this process is searching history for inspiration. I came across the Pony Express which holds a short window of time in history. Only a year and half. Here are some fun facts about this unique way the U.S. mail was delivered.

Photo from the National Pony Express Association

 

1.    ~The Pony Express was more than twice as fast as its competitors. In March of 1861, riders carried the inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln from Nebraska to California in just seven days, 17 hours. The average time was 10 days compared to an overland stagecoach taking 25 days.

2.      ~It never made a profit. When the Pony Express closed in October of 1861, it had lost around 200,000 dollars.

3.      ~There was a weight limit to be a rider. Most of us picture tough cowboys as riders, but in actuality most of the riders were small, wiry men who weighed between 100 and 125 pounds.

4.      ~The riders had to take a loyalty oath.

5.     ~ Mail was carried in a specially designed saddle bag.

6.     ~ Ordinary people usually never used the Pony Express.

7.    ~  Robert “Pony Bob” Haslam made a historic ride by traveling 380-miles run in less than two days.

8.     ~The riders didn’t have the most dangerous job in the Pony Express. Being the stock keeper at the transfer stations wasn’t safe due to them being vulnerable to ambush.

9.     ~Buffalo Bill was more likely not a Pony Express rider even though he claimed to be in his autobiography.

~The transcontinental telegraph was the historical event that finally finished the Pony Express. 

Ellie Beckett and her sisters have spent more than a decade trying to move on from their outlaw past. When Henry Weston arrives at the sisters’ business, Fallen Dove Saloon and Hotel, demanding part of their profits, Ellie schemes a plan to take him down before he does the same to them. But, when Liam Holt arrives wanting to rescue her, even though Ellie insists she doesn’t need rescuing, both Ellie and Liam collide head on with her past.

Liam Holt arrives in Helena, Montana with a motive to not only track down an outlaw but escape a life of privilege. At least long enough for him to figure out what he wants.

When Liam meets Ellie Beckett his plan spins out of control. With danger lurking, he wants nothing more than to protect her. For the first time in his life, he knows what he wants and that is to make the fiery red-head his. Though she refuses to make this an easy task, he’s determined to win her heart.

As the pages turn, sparks fly, igniting a fire between them not even they can stop. Will love win or will unforeseen circumstances keep them apart?

See you next month,

Lianna Hawkins
Award-Winning Author of Western Romance
www.LiannaHawkins.com

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