A Wild Ride on the Pony Express

08/30/23 • 30 min

6 Listeners

In 1860 the fastest way to get a message to a family member, partner, or colleague wasn’t by text but by hoof...specifically, a pony’s. In just ten short days the Pony Express delivered mail between St. Louis and Sacramento. To find out what it was like to travel this legendary trail, there’s only one way: get on a horse and follow all 2,000 miles of it. That’s what writer Will Grant did, retracing the route from Missouri to California over four and half months. This guest episode of the Outside podcast brings you an epic camping tale in the name of history.

We’ll be back with new episodes of Sidedoor in September! If you enjoyed this episode, find more stories from Outside at https://www.outsideonline.com/podcast

We’ll be back with new episodes of Sidedoor in September! If you enjoyed this episode, find more stories from Outside at https://www.outsideonline.com/podcast

Previous Episode

The Hungerford Deed

When a 200-year-old legal document anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett assumed it would be full of boring legal jargon. Instead, he found a juicy tale of family betrayal that would forever change what we thought we knew about the founding of the Smithsonian. In honor of the Smithsonian’s 177th birthday, we’re sharing one of our favorite stories from the Sidedoor collection.

Guests:

William Bennett, conservator at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Archives

Social: @rwilliab (Instagram), @SirWilliamB (Twitter)

Heather Ewing, author of The Lost World of James Smithson, and Associate Dean at New York Studio School

Social: @HPealeEwing

Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large