The Pony Express is running!
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Carol Dee
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"Settlement" of the West happened at a full run, also. I put settlement in quotes because the rush went on for only about 30 or 40 years before the dust began to settle. Even secondary urban areas had a 100,000 residents by then.
We hear of California's Forty-niners but gold seekers were 1,000 miles north of Sacramento by the early 1850's. The US military had a difficult time keeping up and keeping order, which primarily meant the removal of Native Americans.
Protection for those gold rush people mostly meant that they could exploit the resource as quickly and as unhindered as possible. Attitudes towards natives was to get the h**l outta the way or be killed, period.
Steve
We hear of California's Forty-niners but gold seekers were 1,000 miles north of Sacramento by the early 1850's. The US military had a difficult time keeping up and keeping order, which primarily meant the removal of Native Americans.
Protection for those gold rush people mostly meant that they could exploit the resource as quickly and as unhindered as possible. Attitudes towards natives was to get the h**l outta the way or be killed, period.
Steve
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In late May and early June, 1860 the Pony Express service was disrupted due to Indian depredations in Nevada which resulted in several of the weekly trips being cancelled. When the express was re-started, the service was increased to twice weekly. The cover shown below is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting Pony Express covers extant. One usually reads about how no mails were lost and of situations where the fearless Pony riders evaded their Indian predators. However, such was not always the case as this cover evidences. It was carried on the Pony Express trip which left San Francisco on July 21, 1860 . The mail pouch did not arrive in St. Joseph until almost two years later! The notation reads “recovered from a mail stolen by the Indians in 1860” and bears a New York backstamp of May 3, 1862 , the date when it was finally delivered in New York.
July 21, 1860 San Francisco by Pony Express “mail stolen by the Indians”
mail pouch found and delivered in New York in 1862
(Dale-Lichtenstein collection, courtesy H.R. Harmer, Inc.)
reverse of cover showing sender’s cachet and “ New York May 2 (1862)” arrival postmark
The only mention in print that I have been able to find about a Pony Express mail being stolen is in The Overland Stage to California by Root and Connelley which mentions:
"At times there would be a lively chase by Indians, but only once has there been mention made that he was overtaken. On this occasion the rider was scalped, but the pony escaped with the letter pouch, which was subsequently recovered out on the plains and the letters promptly forwarded to their destination."
The above cover is almost certainly a postal artifact of this incident. An interesting report of Howard Ransom Egan, a Pony Express rider serving the area in July, 1861, mentions in reference to his escape from Indians the week before the above cover was mailed, “Later I got it from some friendly Indians that there had been a trap set to catch an Express rider for the purpose of seeing what he carried to make him travel so fast.” This may explain why the letters were not destroyed.
Another example of a cover carried on this fateful trip, probably in the same mochila, is also known. The second example has a manuscript endorsement for the Pony Express applied at a “way” office after departure from San Francisco and is dated July 22 (1860). An additional note put on in 1862 says “Recovered from a mail stolen in 1860” and is docketed by addressee as having been received on May 1, 1862 .
July 21, 1860 San Francisco by Pony Express “mail stolen by the Indians”
mail pouch found and delivered in New York in 1862
(Dale-Lichtenstein collection, courtesy H.R. Harmer, Inc.)
reverse of cover showing sender’s cachet and “ New York May 2 (1862)” arrival postmark
The only mention in print that I have been able to find about a Pony Express mail being stolen is in The Overland Stage to California by Root and Connelley which mentions:
"At times there would be a lively chase by Indians, but only once has there been mention made that he was overtaken. On this occasion the rider was scalped, but the pony escaped with the letter pouch, which was subsequently recovered out on the plains and the letters promptly forwarded to their destination."
The above cover is almost certainly a postal artifact of this incident. An interesting report of Howard Ransom Egan, a Pony Express rider serving the area in July, 1861, mentions in reference to his escape from Indians the week before the above cover was mailed, “Later I got it from some friendly Indians that there had been a trap set to catch an Express rider for the purpose of seeing what he carried to make him travel so fast.” This may explain why the letters were not destroyed.
Another example of a cover carried on this fateful trip, probably in the same mochila, is also known. The second example has a manuscript endorsement for the Pony Express applied at a “way” office after departure from San Francisco and is dated July 22 (1860). An additional note put on in 1862 says “Recovered from a mail stolen in 1860” and is docketed by addressee as having been received on May 1, 1862 .
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The incredible story of "Pony Bob" Haslam
The most famous of the Old West Mounted Mailmen.
Of all the intrepid men who rode for the Pony Express during its brief period in the sun, the most famous was Robert Haslam, affectionately known all over the west as "Pony Bob." So many times did he escape death at the hands of savage redskins, and so arduous were some of his rides over the sand and alkali-clad deserts of Nevada Territory, that the tale of his experiences during his employment with the famous mail service reads like a swashbuckling adventure story.
"Pony Bob" joined the Express soon after its birth. His runs were over the Territory of Nevada. About eight months after the Express began running the Piute War erupted in the territory. Virginia City, where the fabulous Comstock Lode was a fountainhead that poured fort a rushing gargantuan flood of silver, was the largest settlement in all of the territory and it was there that a bloody Indian attack was expected at any moment. A stone hotel on C Street was under construction, and was hastily converted into a fortress where the women and children were rushed for protection. From the high mountain tops the dread Indian signal fires of the redmen flared and the men of Virginia City stood armed and ready to repulse an attack. Every available man and horse were gathered to help repel the redmen.
In spite of the fact that the Indian attack was expected, Pony Bob started his route when his turn came. Like the mails of today, nothing stopped the Pony Express from going through. Pony Bob left Virginia city and reached Reed's Station on the Carson river without mishap. But at Reed's there was no change of horses - all mounts had been pressed into service to participate in the expected Indian attack. Bob fed his tired animal and started for the next station fifteen miles distant, which was called Bucklands - which later became Fort Churchill. This was to have been the end of Pony Bob's run as he had changed his old route to this one. On it he had experienced many narrow escapes from the hostile Piutes and had been wounded twice by the savages.
When Pony Bob thundered up to Bucklands, he had covered seventy-five miles since his start with the Express. The relief rider was waiting for him but refused to take the route from there on. Even the superintendent, W. C. Marley, could not persuade the rider to proceed. He then in desperation told Pony Bob, "Bob, I will give us $50 if you make this ride."
Bob answered that he'd start at once. He hastily adjusted his seven-shooter Spencer rifle and his Colt revolver and jumped astride a fresh horse. From Bucklands to the Sink of the Carson, Bob rode a dangerous route over desolate terrain. He arrived safely and headed for Sand Springs through deep sand hills and an alkali bottom, thirty miles further. Not a drop of water was to be had the entire distance. At Sand Springs Bob changed horses and pushed on towards Cold Springs, thirty-seven miles distant. At that point an Express rider by the name of J. G. Kelley relieved him. Pony Bob had ridden one hundred and ninety miles, stopping only long enough to snatch a bite of food and a drink of water. This run went down in the records of the Pony Express as the fastest in all of the route which covered two thousand miles.
Pony Bob rested at Smith's Creek nine hours and started his return journey over the same route. When he reached Cold Springs he was horrified to find that Indians had attacked the station, killed the agent and stolen all the horses. Even though he was well aware that danger in the form of savage redskins lay on the lonely desert, Bob decided to go on. He watered his horse. The mount - ridden hard for thirty miles straight - was fagged, but he responded when Bob vaulted into the saddle. The messenger headed for Sand Springs, thirty miles away.
Night was closing fast on the desert and the route lay through thick, tall sagebrush. Bob kept his eyes on the horse's ears, knowing that they would flash a danger signal if Indians came near. He had made up his mind to fight for his life in case he was attacked. The night was deadly still. Now and then the silence was broken by the sound of wolves. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Pony Bob thundered up to Sand Springs Station. He told the agent there of the fate of the Cold Springs stop and advised immediate departure for the Sink of the Carson, telling the man that the marauders were sure to hit the following day. The agent willingly mounted his horse and rode with Bob, and in doing so probably saved his own life. The Piutes swarmed upon Smith's Creek the next day. However, those at the station were in a strong stone house and from there they fought the savages for four days. On the fifth day, a company of fifty volunteers from Cold Springs rode upon the scene and routed the Indians. The company buried John Williams, station keeper.
When Bob reached the Sink of the Carson, he found the men in the station apprehensive, for they had seen fifty Indians, armed and in war paint, scouting the vicinity. In the station wree fifteen white men, all armed. The adobe station was large enough to accommodate all the men and fifteen horses. It was located only a few feet from a spring. Bob rested at the Sink for an hour and that night began a ride to Bucklands. He arrived at his destination without mishap and only three and a half hours behind schedule. He found Superintendent Marley there, and when Bob told him the news of the Cold Springs massacre, Marley raised the bonus for Bob's daring ride to one hundred dollars.
It was while Bob was riding the Pony Express in Nevada Territory that Lincoln was elected president of the United States. By that time, Fort Churchill had been established near Bucklands on the Carson River. The Pacific Telegraph then reached as far as St. Joseph, Missouri. The end of the line from the east was at Fort Kearney, Nebraska Territory. From there communication went via Pony Express across western Nebraska Territory, Wyoming and Utah to Fort Churchill, which was hooked to California by an independent telegraph line owned by Fred Bee and several partners. The little line, known as Fred Bee's "Grapevine," ran over the very crest of the towering Sierra Nevada and connected with the west coast. When the votes were in after the November 1860 election and Lincoln was the president-elect, the news sped over the wire to Fort Kearney, then raced overland on the back of fleet Express ponies to Fort Churchill. There an operator with his wife clear tapped out the news to San Francisco and Sacramento on November 14, just seven days after it left the east. Since Pony Bob Haslam was the most famous of the riders for the Pony Express, he was given the honor of taking the message on its last lap to Fort Churchill. Many vital issues hung in the balance in this election - slavery and a possible war that would turn state against state. Eagerly the sentries awaited the coming of the Express rider with the results. Long before he raced through the gate, Pony Bob shouted to the sentries, "Lincoln's elected!"
When the Pony Express was discontinued, Bob secured a job with Wells, Fargo & Company as an express rider. His route lay between Virginia City and Friday Station and back. He rode one hundred miles every twenty-four hours. He was on that job more than a year. By that time the Pacific Railway was pushing westward fast, and the Pony Express business was dwindling. Eventually the rails reached Reno, Nevada, and Pony Bob made the run from Virginia City to Reno for six months, using fifteen horses. Traveling time between the two cities was just short of an hour for the twenty-three miles. The telegraph line was completed next and the Pony Express on the route was discontinued. Pony Bob was transferred to Idaho where he rode a one-hundred-mile route, using one horse and traveling from the Queen's River to Owyhee River. When the Modoc War erupted, Bob was at Queen's River Station.
Bob saw many tragedies on his runs through this lonely country. Once he passed a spot where ninety Chinamen had been massacred by Indians. Their corpses were still on the ground. The Idaho run was Bob's last job with the Pony Express. The man who took over his route when he resigned, Sye Macaulas, was killed by Indians the first time he covered the route.
Eventually Pony Bob left the west and settled in Chicago, where he was associated with the management of the Congress Hotel organization. It was there in 1907 that the famous Indian historian and writer, William Lightfoot Visscher, interviewed him and heard the story of his daring rides in the west.
Bob Haslam was born in London, England, in January 1840. Thus he was only twenty years old when he made his famous ride, and he died at the age of 72 in Chicago in February 1912.
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Story of the Pony Express Trail
The Story of the Pony Express Trail 1860-1861:
The origins and the reason for a horse-and-rider-mail-delivery system between the east and west can be summed up in two words—slow mail. Prior to the Coach and Pony Express mail delivery, time from the east to the west—by ship down the Gulf of Mexico, across the Panama by mule, then by ship again up to San Francisco—might take six weeks, and if the winds were off, eight weeks.
With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, and the increasing political tensions of the 1850’s which led to the Civil War, it became imperative to keep the far West in the Union by providing a more dependable source of information from the East. News was very slow in reaching eager California readers, and a standing joke of the time was that events in the East had already been forgotten by the time they were known by those out West.
The Vision
The solution to this problem came from a businessman of vision, William Russell. Russell owned a stage and freight company based in Leavenworth, Kansas (with partners A. Majors and W.B. Waddell). While on a promotional trip to Washington to help his ailing freight line, Russell and Senator William Gwin of California discussed the possibilities of an Express Mail Company to deliver mail to California by the Central Route along the Oregon and California Trail. Initially the stage express line was comprised of fifty coaches and extended about eight hundred miles. By February, 1860, when the line was extended from Salt Lake City across Utah and Nevada to California, efficiency had improved the mail delivery time to a respectable number of days. However, financial losses were staggering, no government subsidies came through, and something was needed to promote the Central Route.
Finally it was decided: light, tough young men would be selected and hired to ride the best and fastest horse-flesh money could buy. There were to be eighty riders. Four hundred other men were to run way stations, some of which already existed for the coach line.
The Route
The proposed route was brutally simple: west out of St. Joseph, up the Platte and Sweetwater rivers, through South Pass and the Rockies to Salt Lake City, out across the Utah and Nevada deserts, up and over the Sierra Nevada and into California, as fast as man and animal could go, day and night.
Light and Tough
In the interest of speed, careful consideration was given to weight. Riders had to weigh less than 120 pounds. Only twenty-five pounds were allowed for equipment which included four mail pouches sewn on leather thrown across the saddle, a light rifle and Colt revolver. Each mail delivery was limited to twenty pounds, a total weight on the horse, 165 pounds.
Riders wore a bright red shirt and blue pants. They carried a small brass horn to signal their coming which was later eliminated when it was discovered the hoof beats did the same thing. Each rider was issued a Bible to sustain their courage and hardiness to make the ride through potentially dangerous country of Indians, bandits, deadly blizzards and murderous heat.
Fading Hoofbeats
Although the Pony Express lasted only 19 months, the associated glamour, both fact and fiction, has assured it a large and lasting chapter in the history of the West. In October, 1861, the Pony Express was officially terminated. It became obsolete by the advent of the telegraph system. Messages that took eight weeks by ship, or eight days by the Pony Express, now took only four hours by wire.
While the Pony Express never did operate at a profit, it would be wrong to call the dramatic venture a failure. California stayed firmly with the Union during the Civil War thanks to correspondence carried by the Pony Express. In all, a dramatic thundering page had been written in American History, and on a quiet day, you can stand along the trail and still faintly hear the hoofbeats.
Pony Express
The Oath of Employment
“I _____________ do hereby swear, before the great and living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language. I will drink no intoxicating liquors; that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect, I will conduct myself honestly, faithful to my duties, and so direct my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God.”
The Pony Express Trail National Back Country Byway begins near Fairfield and ends at Ibapah, Utah. Along the route visitors can enjoy history and a variety of recreation.
To begin tracing the hoofprints of the “Pony” visit the Stagecoach Inn State Park on state highway 73, 5 miles south of Cedar Fort. The Inn was an overnight stop for weary travelers along the Overland and Pony Express Trail. It is normally open from Easter weekend through October 31. The Pony Express National Back Country Byway route is approximately 133 miles in length. Most of the route is classified as rangeland and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The elevations along the route vary from 4,900 feet near Fairfield to over 6,100 feet at Lookout Pass. The most common use of the rangeland along the trail is livestock grazing which dates back to the mid 1800’s.
The Pony Express Trail is interpreted at a number of locations:
A – Fairfield/Camp Floyd
This station was located within John Carson’s Inn and was used by both the Pony Express and stage travel. The adobe building was built in 1958 and is still standing, has a wooden façade, and is open to the public. It was operated by the Carson family until 1947 and lodged such visitors as Mark Twain, Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman and Sir Richard Burton.
Adjacent to Fairfield is Camp Floyd. It was established in November 1858 and named for Secretary of War, John B. Floyd. Camp Floyd was the second military establishment in Utah and its mission was to establish a military route to California and to investigate the Gunnison Massacre.
At its peak, Fairfield had a population of 7,000 of which 3,000 were soldiers. At the time, Fairfield was the third largest city in the territory.
B – Faust Junction
As you travel west along the Pony Express Trail, this stop offers the first opportunity to view intpretive work completed in 1976 by the BLM. There is also a marker at the site which was constructed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of its project to mark the original Pony Express Trail. Named after station keeper “Doc” Faust, the station was a two-story stone structure located some distance from the present marker. A change of riders took place and the mail stage stopped for rest breaks at this station.
C – Simpson Springs Station
This station bears the name of explorer Captain J.H. Simpson who stopped here in 1858 while searching for an overland mail route between Salt Lake City and California. It is one of the most dependable watering points in this desert region. George Chorpenning established a mail station at this site in 1858, which was later used by the Pony Express and Overland Express.
A number of structures have been built and destroyed in the vicinity of Simpson Springs over the years. It is not known for sure which served as the station for the Pony Express. The restored structure is located on a building site which dates to the period (1860) and closely resembles the original. A BLM campground is located just east of the station and contains vault toilets and 14 individual camp sites. No large group camping facilities are available.
D – Boyd Station
This relay station gets its name from Bid Boyd, a station keeper who continued to live here into the early 1900’s. In the days of the Pony Express, it was known as Butte or Desert Station. Only a portion of the rock walls that once provided protection from the elements now remains.
Living conditions were extremely crude. The partially dug out. Rock-walled living quarters contained bunks which were built into the walls. Furniture consisted of boxes and benches. Life at the isolated station was lonely. Activities of the station keeper, spare rider and blacksmith centered around caring for the horses and a simple existence. The monotony was broken only by the arrival and almost immediate departure of two riders each day.
E – Canyon Station
The Canyon Station was located northwest of this site in Overland Canyon. Built in 1861, it consisted of a log house, a stable, and a dugout where meals were cooked and served. In July, 1863, Indians killed the Overland agent, four soldiers and burned the station. The Overland Station was built in 1863 at the presently marked site, which was a more defensible location. Stone outlines of the 1863 station are still visible.
There are remnants of a round fortification built just behind the station which served as a lookout and place of refuge. It probably never had a roof so defenders could speedily climb over the wall and begin firing rounds through the rifle ports. The depression on the south side of the parking lot indicates where the corral and blacksmith shop were probably located.
Pony Express Facts
St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA, distance: 1900 miles
Number of Stations: 190 (peak operation). Note: The Utah Territory (Utah, Nevada and Western Colorado) carried 65 of the 190
Number of Horses: 420 (peak)
Number of Riders: 80 (peak)
Average Speed: 7 miles per hour
Average Time: 10 days
Fastest Time: 7 ½ days (Lincoln’s Inaugural Message)
Distance per Rider: 60-120 miles each
William C. “Buffalo Bill” Cody: Rode 322 miles in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses
Home Stations: 60 miles apart
Swing Stations: averaged 11 ¾ miles apart
Rider Salary: $120-$125 per month
Station Personnel: 2 agents, 1 station keeper, and 1 assistant
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt...ays/pony_express_trail/story_of_the_pony.html
The Story of the Pony Express Trail 1860-1861:
The origins and the reason for a horse-and-rider-mail-delivery system between the east and west can be summed up in two words—slow mail. Prior to the Coach and Pony Express mail delivery, time from the east to the west—by ship down the Gulf of Mexico, across the Panama by mule, then by ship again up to San Francisco—might take six weeks, and if the winds were off, eight weeks.
With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, and the increasing political tensions of the 1850’s which led to the Civil War, it became imperative to keep the far West in the Union by providing a more dependable source of information from the East. News was very slow in reaching eager California readers, and a standing joke of the time was that events in the East had already been forgotten by the time they were known by those out West.
The Vision
The solution to this problem came from a businessman of vision, William Russell. Russell owned a stage and freight company based in Leavenworth, Kansas (with partners A. Majors and W.B. Waddell). While on a promotional trip to Washington to help his ailing freight line, Russell and Senator William Gwin of California discussed the possibilities of an Express Mail Company to deliver mail to California by the Central Route along the Oregon and California Trail. Initially the stage express line was comprised of fifty coaches and extended about eight hundred miles. By February, 1860, when the line was extended from Salt Lake City across Utah and Nevada to California, efficiency had improved the mail delivery time to a respectable number of days. However, financial losses were staggering, no government subsidies came through, and something was needed to promote the Central Route.
Finally it was decided: light, tough young men would be selected and hired to ride the best and fastest horse-flesh money could buy. There were to be eighty riders. Four hundred other men were to run way stations, some of which already existed for the coach line.
The Route
The proposed route was brutally simple: west out of St. Joseph, up the Platte and Sweetwater rivers, through South Pass and the Rockies to Salt Lake City, out across the Utah and Nevada deserts, up and over the Sierra Nevada and into California, as fast as man and animal could go, day and night.
Light and Tough
In the interest of speed, careful consideration was given to weight. Riders had to weigh less than 120 pounds. Only twenty-five pounds were allowed for equipment which included four mail pouches sewn on leather thrown across the saddle, a light rifle and Colt revolver. Each mail delivery was limited to twenty pounds, a total weight on the horse, 165 pounds.
Riders wore a bright red shirt and blue pants. They carried a small brass horn to signal their coming which was later eliminated when it was discovered the hoof beats did the same thing. Each rider was issued a Bible to sustain their courage and hardiness to make the ride through potentially dangerous country of Indians, bandits, deadly blizzards and murderous heat.
Fading Hoofbeats
Although the Pony Express lasted only 19 months, the associated glamour, both fact and fiction, has assured it a large and lasting chapter in the history of the West. In October, 1861, the Pony Express was officially terminated. It became obsolete by the advent of the telegraph system. Messages that took eight weeks by ship, or eight days by the Pony Express, now took only four hours by wire.
While the Pony Express never did operate at a profit, it would be wrong to call the dramatic venture a failure. California stayed firmly with the Union during the Civil War thanks to correspondence carried by the Pony Express. In all, a dramatic thundering page had been written in American History, and on a quiet day, you can stand along the trail and still faintly hear the hoofbeats.
Pony Express
The Oath of Employment
“I _____________ do hereby swear, before the great and living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language. I will drink no intoxicating liquors; that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect, I will conduct myself honestly, faithful to my duties, and so direct my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God.”
The Pony Express Trail National Back Country Byway begins near Fairfield and ends at Ibapah, Utah. Along the route visitors can enjoy history and a variety of recreation.
To begin tracing the hoofprints of the “Pony” visit the Stagecoach Inn State Park on state highway 73, 5 miles south of Cedar Fort. The Inn was an overnight stop for weary travelers along the Overland and Pony Express Trail. It is normally open from Easter weekend through October 31. The Pony Express National Back Country Byway route is approximately 133 miles in length. Most of the route is classified as rangeland and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The elevations along the route vary from 4,900 feet near Fairfield to over 6,100 feet at Lookout Pass. The most common use of the rangeland along the trail is livestock grazing which dates back to the mid 1800’s.
The Pony Express Trail is interpreted at a number of locations:
A – Fairfield/Camp Floyd
This station was located within John Carson’s Inn and was used by both the Pony Express and stage travel. The adobe building was built in 1958 and is still standing, has a wooden façade, and is open to the public. It was operated by the Carson family until 1947 and lodged such visitors as Mark Twain, Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman and Sir Richard Burton.
Adjacent to Fairfield is Camp Floyd. It was established in November 1858 and named for Secretary of War, John B. Floyd. Camp Floyd was the second military establishment in Utah and its mission was to establish a military route to California and to investigate the Gunnison Massacre.
At its peak, Fairfield had a population of 7,000 of which 3,000 were soldiers. At the time, Fairfield was the third largest city in the territory.
B – Faust Junction
As you travel west along the Pony Express Trail, this stop offers the first opportunity to view intpretive work completed in 1976 by the BLM. There is also a marker at the site which was constructed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of its project to mark the original Pony Express Trail. Named after station keeper “Doc” Faust, the station was a two-story stone structure located some distance from the present marker. A change of riders took place and the mail stage stopped for rest breaks at this station.
C – Simpson Springs Station
This station bears the name of explorer Captain J.H. Simpson who stopped here in 1858 while searching for an overland mail route between Salt Lake City and California. It is one of the most dependable watering points in this desert region. George Chorpenning established a mail station at this site in 1858, which was later used by the Pony Express and Overland Express.
A number of structures have been built and destroyed in the vicinity of Simpson Springs over the years. It is not known for sure which served as the station for the Pony Express. The restored structure is located on a building site which dates to the period (1860) and closely resembles the original. A BLM campground is located just east of the station and contains vault toilets and 14 individual camp sites. No large group camping facilities are available.
D – Boyd Station
This relay station gets its name from Bid Boyd, a station keeper who continued to live here into the early 1900’s. In the days of the Pony Express, it was known as Butte or Desert Station. Only a portion of the rock walls that once provided protection from the elements now remains.
Living conditions were extremely crude. The partially dug out. Rock-walled living quarters contained bunks which were built into the walls. Furniture consisted of boxes and benches. Life at the isolated station was lonely. Activities of the station keeper, spare rider and blacksmith centered around caring for the horses and a simple existence. The monotony was broken only by the arrival and almost immediate departure of two riders each day.
E – Canyon Station
The Canyon Station was located northwest of this site in Overland Canyon. Built in 1861, it consisted of a log house, a stable, and a dugout where meals were cooked and served. In July, 1863, Indians killed the Overland agent, four soldiers and burned the station. The Overland Station was built in 1863 at the presently marked site, which was a more defensible location. Stone outlines of the 1863 station are still visible.
There are remnants of a round fortification built just behind the station which served as a lookout and place of refuge. It probably never had a roof so defenders could speedily climb over the wall and begin firing rounds through the rifle ports. The depression on the south side of the parking lot indicates where the corral and blacksmith shop were probably located.
Pony Express Facts
St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA, distance: 1900 miles
Number of Stations: 190 (peak operation). Note: The Utah Territory (Utah, Nevada and Western Colorado) carried 65 of the 190
Number of Horses: 420 (peak)
Number of Riders: 80 (peak)
Average Speed: 7 miles per hour
Average Time: 10 days
Fastest Time: 7 ½ days (Lincoln’s Inaugural Message)
Distance per Rider: 60-120 miles each
William C. “Buffalo Bill” Cody: Rode 322 miles in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses
Home Stations: 60 miles apart
Swing Stations: averaged 11 ¾ miles apart
Rider Salary: $120-$125 per month
Station Personnel: 2 agents, 1 station keeper, and 1 assistant
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt...ays/pony_express_trail/story_of_the_pony.html
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INDIAN MASSACRE AT PYRAMID LAKE
By Adam S. Eterovich
In 1859-60 the Indians experienced an especially severe winter. Many children died of privation. They had a long list of grievances which included insults, injustices, and the encroachment of the white men upon their favorite lands.
With the discovery of rich silver deposits in 1859 many mining parties were in Nevada. The boom had started.
The Slavonian prospectors from California were also arriving. The Massacre at Pyramid Lake appeared in many California and Nevada Papers including subsequent histories of the State of Nevada. The following names were noted:
Centovitch (probably Zenovich)
Gaventi (listed as Austrian)
Knezwetz (probably Knezevich)
Kuezerwitch, M.
Kneegiswoldt, Marco (listed as Austrian)
Cuesavick, Marco
Cesvick, M. (listed as Austrian)
Shasterirch, M.
Anderson, Spero
Zenovich’s were in Virginia City during 1860. Mathew Shusterich, Austrian, was in Hamilton, Nevada in 1870 and appeared on the U.S. Government Census of Population. there were many Knezovich;s in California. Kuezerwitch, Kneegiswodt, and Knezwets are all on the same person.
The San Francisco Bulletin during this period of May 1869 states:
Messrs. Espers, Anderson, Lamar, Ques, Kind, Charles Palmer, and Marco Cuesavick, left here Saturday, 5th, for Pyramid Lake. At Red Bluff, Truckee River, they were joined by John Gibson and Mr. Canfield recently from Oroville. They left Red Bluff, Monday morning, for Pyramid Lake. Their bodies have been found in Willoughby River, four miles from the place of departure, showing that they were murdered the day they left Red Bluff. This was the day on which the Massacre at Williams’ Station took place. (1)
A good account of the battle is found in Bancrofts works. (2) On page 210 of the footnotes the Virginia City Volunteers of Company Number 1 are:
Captain F. Johnson Henderson
F. J. Call Andreas Schnald
McTerney Marco Kneegiswoldt-- Austrian
Hugh McLaughlin John Gaventi-- Austrian
Charles McLeod George
John Fleming O. C. Steel
Page 212 of the footnotes lists the killed as:
Eugene Angel W. Hawkins
WIlliam Arrington William Headly
S. Auberson F. Gatehouse
Boston Boy Flourney Johnson
A. K. Elliot M. Kuezerwitch
John B. Fleming John Gaventi
George Jones
The San Francisco papers in June of 1860 carried extensive coverage of the battle. (3)
List of killed, missing, and returned: On my return from Virginia City about one week since, I had designed to have immediately published a corrected statement of the loss of life int he disastrous engagement of the command under Major Ormsby, at Pyramid Lake; the present report will be found to be correct, and differs from the first you received from us by telegraph in addition of eleven more names added, but the unknown, and the removed of two names from the list of the dead, who subsequently returned. It contains also the names of the parties murdered at the Red Bluffs of the Truckee and the number of those massacred on the Eastern portion of the Honey Lake Valley and Back Rock Districts.
Dead: M. Knezwetz, John Gaventi, M. Cesvick
Missing: M. Shasterich
Thus far we have the total of 96 names only of the 106 who were in the engagement; and of this number 50 have returned, including the wounded. Of the 42 remaining, the number of those known to be dead amounts to 23, leaving as missing 19 others.
One of the correspondents of the San Francisco Herald gave the number of bodies found on the field and buried at 43. (4)
The Battle
Like the bursting out of a long smothered conflagration was the vengeful excitement which followed the news of the attack at William’s Station. Couriers sped in ever direction and at night and by unfrequented ways to ward camps of prospectors and outlying settlements of their danger. On the day of the attack John Gibse and 7 others, sixty miles away, were also slaughtered; settlers were killed and houses burned at Honey Lake, and two men killed on Truckee River; war parties stationed themselves in the Humboldt valley, and the mountains at Mente and Walker River. Intelligence was sent to California with an appeal for arms and ammunition, to which the citizens of that state quickly and generously responded. But without waiting for aid the NEvadans immediately formed companies in all the tows and proceeded on the 9th to Bucklands en route to Williams Station. They were divided into several detachments under leaders few of whom had any military knowledge numbering altogether but 105 men. They were poorly armed and undisciplined. After interring the dead the volunteers proceeded to the Truckee River, where they encamped on the night of the 11th at the present site of Wadsworth, moving down next day toward the main camp of the enemy. About two miles from the foot of the lake the mountains approach closely to the river, leaving but a narrow strip of bottom land, which constitutes a pass easily defended, and dangerous to an attacking force. No enemy in sight, the volunteers march don for a mile and a half. When they were well within the trap, about 100 Indians showed themselves ont he ridge a little in advance, Major Ormsby gave the order for his company to charge up the slope. When they reached the plateau above on still another ridge line was stationed in the same manner as the first, but more extended, and with their r right ad left almost touching the narrow valley through which ran an impassable river. Seen from every sage brush twanged an arrow or hissed a bullet, and the thirty men realized their peril. They made a hasty retreat to a piece of timber which came down toward the bottom on the west, but here they were met by the savages under the Black Rock chief Sequinata commonly called Chiquite Winnemucca or Black Rock Tom, who forced them down toward the river where they would be entirely at his mercy.
At this juncture Numaga or Young Winnemucca, threw himself between Chiquite Winnemucca’s warriers and the volunteers, and attempted to obtain a parly but he was disregarded by the Indians, now in hot pursuit of Ormsby’s men who had been reinforced by other companies form the valley and were making a stand in the timber where Ormsby by general consent took the command. When the commander comprehended that his force was surrounded he made an effort to keep open an escape by sending Captain Conden to the Genea rangers and Captain R. G. Watkins of the Silver City guards the only veteran soldier among them to guard the pass out of the valley. But a panic ensued. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation,many turned and fled. Watkins returned to the bottom where the remnants of the commands were engaged in a life and death struggle with the Indian who flushed with victory, were sating their thirst for blood. The white men cried for mercy, but savages said “No use now/ too late.”
The battle began about four o’clock int he afternoon. The bloodiest part of it was where the rear of the white forces, crowding at the pass in their efforts to escape, retarded the exit, and the Indians riding in amongst them chewed them in pieces. Just where Ormsby died his friends could not tell. He was shot in the mouth by a poisoned arrow, and wounded in both arms. The working poison caused him to fall from his horse. It was that he besought his men to rally around him dreading to fall into the hand of his enemies before life was extinct. The pursuit was kept up until interrupted by the darkness of night and the fugitives scattered over the country a hundred miles from Virginia City. Comparatively few were wounded. The first effect of the defeat at Pyramid Lake was to drive many out of the country. The women and children of Virginia City were placed in an unfinished stone house, which was turned into a fortress and called Fort Riley. At Silver City, a forificaiton was erected ont he rocks overlooking the town and a cannon made of wood was mounted at the fort to frighten away invaders. At Carson City the Penrod Hotel was used as a fortification after being barricaded and pickets established. At Genoa the small stone house of Waren Wasson was taken for a defense while Wasson rode through the enemy’s country 110 miles, to Honey Lake, to carry a telegraphic order from General Clarke to a company of cavalry supposed to be at Honey Lake to march at once to Carson. (5)
Other Events About Pyramid Lake
There was a force of possibly thirty men, under Captain Weatherlow, from Honey Lake Valley, in the mountains west of, and toward the north end of Pyramid Lake; and following letter of confident power and prowess, the Governor Roop, tells all concerning him or his command:
June 4th, 1860
Dear Gov.: With my small party I am scouting around Pyramid Lake. The last two days have been on the north side of it, and am now on the west side, within two miles of the lake. I have not seen an Indian, although I am in view of the ground on which Major Ormsby fought the Indians. Would to God I had fifty men, I would clean out all the Indians from this region. Thus far I have been waiting for the troops from Carson to attack them, and then to cut off retreating parties, but the movements of the troops are so dilatory that I fear the Indians will scatter off before there is anything done. If there is any more men in the valley who Will come, and can get a fit-out, send them along, for my party is too small to venture much; yet all are anxious for a brush with the redskins. You need feel no alarm of being attacked in the valley; there is no Indians about to make it, at least on the north.
Respectfully yours, etc.,
Gov. Isaac Roop. Capt. Weatherlow.
It would seem that the Captain got out of the way just in time, from the north end of the lake, to escape an opportunity of having the brush his men seemed so desirous.
Captain Thomas F. Condonand Warren Wasson had induced a few men, ten in all, including themselves, to move to the north from Carson, and occupy a pass to the west of the south end of Pyramid Lake. This pass was the outlet through which the Pah-Utes were likely to attempt to retreat in the direction of Honey Lake Valley, if defeated by the Washoe Regiment, under Colonel Hays. It was important this exit should be guarded-- just as important as the attempt was reckless, with such a mere handful of men. Their number was increased on the way, May 31st, by a detachment from the valley that the movement was designed to protect, and the pass occupied by the entire force under Captain Thomas F. Condon, now swelled to thiry-four men, on the fist day of June. This was the day before the battle; and but for the approach of the whites from the south, along the river, they might have found themselves in a hornet’s nest.
On the second June snow fell too feet deep on the tops of the mountains, north and south of the pass, and on the night of the fourth this command reached the opposite side of the river from Captain Stewart’s command, at the south end of Pyramid Lake, where they discovered the charred remains of seven white men. Their limbs were burned off, but the face and balance of their bodies had not been touched by the flames, even their beards being unscorched. They were left unburied for about one wheel, with hope that some one might identify them, but no one did at that time.
They were supposed to be a party of California prospectors, who had last been seen passing down the Truckee River by O. M. Evans, the day after the Massacre of the whites. They knew nothing of the trouble with the Pah-Utes, and were never heard from after the thirteenth of May. Their names were: (6)
N. H. Canefield Daniel King
Spero Anderson Courtright
John Gibson Cenovitch
Charles Ruth
It is surprising that there were so few Indians and whites in this first and last great Indian war in Nevada.
The Slavonians played a small but significant part. They died in battle.
1. San Francisco Bulletin, May 18, 1860
2. Bancroft Works, Vol. XXV, Nevada, 1890
3. S. F. Daily Evening Bulletin, June 6, 1860.
4. S. F. Herald, May 14, 1860.
5. Bancroft Works, VOl. XXV, Nevada, 1890;
S.F. Alta, May 8, 1860;
S.F. Bulletin, May 14, 16, 17, 26, 29, 31, 1860
June 5, 6, 7, 1860
6. Thompson & West, History of Nevada (Oakland: 1881), p. 163.
http://www.croatia.org/crown/croatians/www.croatians.com/INDIAN-MASSACRE-KNEZEVICH.htm
By Adam S. Eterovich
In 1859-60 the Indians experienced an especially severe winter. Many children died of privation. They had a long list of grievances which included insults, injustices, and the encroachment of the white men upon their favorite lands.
With the discovery of rich silver deposits in 1859 many mining parties were in Nevada. The boom had started.
The Slavonian prospectors from California were also arriving. The Massacre at Pyramid Lake appeared in many California and Nevada Papers including subsequent histories of the State of Nevada. The following names were noted:
Centovitch (probably Zenovich)
Gaventi (listed as Austrian)
Knezwetz (probably Knezevich)
Kuezerwitch, M.
Kneegiswoldt, Marco (listed as Austrian)
Cuesavick, Marco
Cesvick, M. (listed as Austrian)
Shasterirch, M.
Anderson, Spero
Zenovich’s were in Virginia City during 1860. Mathew Shusterich, Austrian, was in Hamilton, Nevada in 1870 and appeared on the U.S. Government Census of Population. there were many Knezovich;s in California. Kuezerwitch, Kneegiswodt, and Knezwets are all on the same person.
The San Francisco Bulletin during this period of May 1869 states:
Messrs. Espers, Anderson, Lamar, Ques, Kind, Charles Palmer, and Marco Cuesavick, left here Saturday, 5th, for Pyramid Lake. At Red Bluff, Truckee River, they were joined by John Gibson and Mr. Canfield recently from Oroville. They left Red Bluff, Monday morning, for Pyramid Lake. Their bodies have been found in Willoughby River, four miles from the place of departure, showing that they were murdered the day they left Red Bluff. This was the day on which the Massacre at Williams’ Station took place. (1)
A good account of the battle is found in Bancrofts works. (2) On page 210 of the footnotes the Virginia City Volunteers of Company Number 1 are:
Captain F. Johnson Henderson
F. J. Call Andreas Schnald
McTerney Marco Kneegiswoldt-- Austrian
Hugh McLaughlin John Gaventi-- Austrian
Charles McLeod George
John Fleming O. C. Steel
Page 212 of the footnotes lists the killed as:
Eugene Angel W. Hawkins
WIlliam Arrington William Headly
S. Auberson F. Gatehouse
Boston Boy Flourney Johnson
A. K. Elliot M. Kuezerwitch
John B. Fleming John Gaventi
George Jones
The San Francisco papers in June of 1860 carried extensive coverage of the battle. (3)
List of killed, missing, and returned: On my return from Virginia City about one week since, I had designed to have immediately published a corrected statement of the loss of life int he disastrous engagement of the command under Major Ormsby, at Pyramid Lake; the present report will be found to be correct, and differs from the first you received from us by telegraph in addition of eleven more names added, but the unknown, and the removed of two names from the list of the dead, who subsequently returned. It contains also the names of the parties murdered at the Red Bluffs of the Truckee and the number of those massacred on the Eastern portion of the Honey Lake Valley and Back Rock Districts.
Dead: M. Knezwetz, John Gaventi, M. Cesvick
Missing: M. Shasterich
Thus far we have the total of 96 names only of the 106 who were in the engagement; and of this number 50 have returned, including the wounded. Of the 42 remaining, the number of those known to be dead amounts to 23, leaving as missing 19 others.
One of the correspondents of the San Francisco Herald gave the number of bodies found on the field and buried at 43. (4)
The Battle
Like the bursting out of a long smothered conflagration was the vengeful excitement which followed the news of the attack at William’s Station. Couriers sped in ever direction and at night and by unfrequented ways to ward camps of prospectors and outlying settlements of their danger. On the day of the attack John Gibse and 7 others, sixty miles away, were also slaughtered; settlers were killed and houses burned at Honey Lake, and two men killed on Truckee River; war parties stationed themselves in the Humboldt valley, and the mountains at Mente and Walker River. Intelligence was sent to California with an appeal for arms and ammunition, to which the citizens of that state quickly and generously responded. But without waiting for aid the NEvadans immediately formed companies in all the tows and proceeded on the 9th to Bucklands en route to Williams Station. They were divided into several detachments under leaders few of whom had any military knowledge numbering altogether but 105 men. They were poorly armed and undisciplined. After interring the dead the volunteers proceeded to the Truckee River, where they encamped on the night of the 11th at the present site of Wadsworth, moving down next day toward the main camp of the enemy. About two miles from the foot of the lake the mountains approach closely to the river, leaving but a narrow strip of bottom land, which constitutes a pass easily defended, and dangerous to an attacking force. No enemy in sight, the volunteers march don for a mile and a half. When they were well within the trap, about 100 Indians showed themselves ont he ridge a little in advance, Major Ormsby gave the order for his company to charge up the slope. When they reached the plateau above on still another ridge line was stationed in the same manner as the first, but more extended, and with their r right ad left almost touching the narrow valley through which ran an impassable river. Seen from every sage brush twanged an arrow or hissed a bullet, and the thirty men realized their peril. They made a hasty retreat to a piece of timber which came down toward the bottom on the west, but here they were met by the savages under the Black Rock chief Sequinata commonly called Chiquite Winnemucca or Black Rock Tom, who forced them down toward the river where they would be entirely at his mercy.
At this juncture Numaga or Young Winnemucca, threw himself between Chiquite Winnemucca’s warriers and the volunteers, and attempted to obtain a parly but he was disregarded by the Indians, now in hot pursuit of Ormsby’s men who had been reinforced by other companies form the valley and were making a stand in the timber where Ormsby by general consent took the command. When the commander comprehended that his force was surrounded he made an effort to keep open an escape by sending Captain Conden to the Genea rangers and Captain R. G. Watkins of the Silver City guards the only veteran soldier among them to guard the pass out of the valley. But a panic ensued. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation,many turned and fled. Watkins returned to the bottom where the remnants of the commands were engaged in a life and death struggle with the Indian who flushed with victory, were sating their thirst for blood. The white men cried for mercy, but savages said “No use now/ too late.”
The battle began about four o’clock int he afternoon. The bloodiest part of it was where the rear of the white forces, crowding at the pass in their efforts to escape, retarded the exit, and the Indians riding in amongst them chewed them in pieces. Just where Ormsby died his friends could not tell. He was shot in the mouth by a poisoned arrow, and wounded in both arms. The working poison caused him to fall from his horse. It was that he besought his men to rally around him dreading to fall into the hand of his enemies before life was extinct. The pursuit was kept up until interrupted by the darkness of night and the fugitives scattered over the country a hundred miles from Virginia City. Comparatively few were wounded. The first effect of the defeat at Pyramid Lake was to drive many out of the country. The women and children of Virginia City were placed in an unfinished stone house, which was turned into a fortress and called Fort Riley. At Silver City, a forificaiton was erected ont he rocks overlooking the town and a cannon made of wood was mounted at the fort to frighten away invaders. At Carson City the Penrod Hotel was used as a fortification after being barricaded and pickets established. At Genoa the small stone house of Waren Wasson was taken for a defense while Wasson rode through the enemy’s country 110 miles, to Honey Lake, to carry a telegraphic order from General Clarke to a company of cavalry supposed to be at Honey Lake to march at once to Carson. (5)
Other Events About Pyramid Lake
There was a force of possibly thirty men, under Captain Weatherlow, from Honey Lake Valley, in the mountains west of, and toward the north end of Pyramid Lake; and following letter of confident power and prowess, the Governor Roop, tells all concerning him or his command:
June 4th, 1860
Dear Gov.: With my small party I am scouting around Pyramid Lake. The last two days have been on the north side of it, and am now on the west side, within two miles of the lake. I have not seen an Indian, although I am in view of the ground on which Major Ormsby fought the Indians. Would to God I had fifty men, I would clean out all the Indians from this region. Thus far I have been waiting for the troops from Carson to attack them, and then to cut off retreating parties, but the movements of the troops are so dilatory that I fear the Indians will scatter off before there is anything done. If there is any more men in the valley who Will come, and can get a fit-out, send them along, for my party is too small to venture much; yet all are anxious for a brush with the redskins. You need feel no alarm of being attacked in the valley; there is no Indians about to make it, at least on the north.
Respectfully yours, etc.,
Gov. Isaac Roop. Capt. Weatherlow.
It would seem that the Captain got out of the way just in time, from the north end of the lake, to escape an opportunity of having the brush his men seemed so desirous.
Captain Thomas F. Condonand Warren Wasson had induced a few men, ten in all, including themselves, to move to the north from Carson, and occupy a pass to the west of the south end of Pyramid Lake. This pass was the outlet through which the Pah-Utes were likely to attempt to retreat in the direction of Honey Lake Valley, if defeated by the Washoe Regiment, under Colonel Hays. It was important this exit should be guarded-- just as important as the attempt was reckless, with such a mere handful of men. Their number was increased on the way, May 31st, by a detachment from the valley that the movement was designed to protect, and the pass occupied by the entire force under Captain Thomas F. Condon, now swelled to thiry-four men, on the fist day of June. This was the day before the battle; and but for the approach of the whites from the south, along the river, they might have found themselves in a hornet’s nest.
On the second June snow fell too feet deep on the tops of the mountains, north and south of the pass, and on the night of the fourth this command reached the opposite side of the river from Captain Stewart’s command, at the south end of Pyramid Lake, where they discovered the charred remains of seven white men. Their limbs were burned off, but the face and balance of their bodies had not been touched by the flames, even their beards being unscorched. They were left unburied for about one wheel, with hope that some one might identify them, but no one did at that time.
They were supposed to be a party of California prospectors, who had last been seen passing down the Truckee River by O. M. Evans, the day after the Massacre of the whites. They knew nothing of the trouble with the Pah-Utes, and were never heard from after the thirteenth of May. Their names were: (6)
N. H. Canefield Daniel King
Spero Anderson Courtright
John Gibson Cenovitch
Charles Ruth
It is surprising that there were so few Indians and whites in this first and last great Indian war in Nevada.
The Slavonians played a small but significant part. They died in battle.
1. San Francisco Bulletin, May 18, 1860
2. Bancroft Works, Vol. XXV, Nevada, 1890
3. S. F. Daily Evening Bulletin, June 6, 1860.
4. S. F. Herald, May 14, 1860.
5. Bancroft Works, VOl. XXV, Nevada, 1890;
S.F. Alta, May 8, 1860;
S.F. Bulletin, May 14, 16, 17, 26, 29, 31, 1860
June 5, 6, 7, 1860
6. Thompson & West, History of Nevada (Oakland: 1881), p. 163.
http://www.croatia.org/crown/croatians/www.croatians.com/INDIAN-MASSACRE-KNEZEVICH.htm
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valley ranch
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The Pony Express trail today is Highway 50, where it best worked for wagons and today graded and paved for modern traffic, at times over the exact trail used by the riders.
Following Highway 50 from end to end could be interesting as would old Route 66. Most of the old stations are still there.
There are several famous paths and trails that are now roads or Highways, maybe one near you.
Years ago I was driving old Pacific Coast Hwy, it was a very foggy night, I stopped behind a vehicle, a man with a flash light came and asked "where was I going?" I said I was on Hwy 1 or Pacific Coast Hwy. He told me I was entering a military installation, this hadn't been Highway 1 for as long as he could remember.
Following Highway 50 from end to end could be interesting as would old Route 66. Most of the old stations are still there.
There are several famous paths and trails that are now roads or Highways, maybe one near you.
Years ago I was driving old Pacific Coast Hwy, it was a very foggy night, I stopped behind a vehicle, a man with a flash light came and asked "where was I going?" I said I was on Hwy 1 or Pacific Coast Hwy. He told me I was entering a military installation, this hadn't been Highway 1 for as long as he could remember.
Last edited:
Just-Moxie
Garden Addicted
You have. You probably just don't remember.
Bleeding Kansas refers to the era when Kansas was deciding whether to be free or slave. Missouri versus Kansas.
"
- Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the neighboring towns of the state of Missouri between 1854 and 1861."
There re many good articles on "Bleeding Kansas" to be found online.
Smart Red
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I thought perhaps Bleeding Kansas was the name of a town. I knew of the rush of Southerners to Kansas in an effort to make it a slave state and of the bitter events that took place there. I just never heard it labeled as "Bleeding Kansas".
