West Routt Library District

"By 1860, Americans had settled from coast to coast. How could mail get from east to west? The Pony Express! Brave Pony Express riders did whatever it took to get the mail delivered quickly. They faced many difficult choices along the way. Now the choices are yours. Would you rather encounter a grizzly bear or a mountain lion? Would you rather ride through driving snow or pouring rain? It's your turn to pick this or that!"--

Primary source documents reveal the history of the creation, operation, and the demise of the Pony Express.

Fifteen-year old Peter Lundy is kind-hearted and curious. After discovering that a shady trader has stolen horses from an Indian tribe, Peter returns the horses to the tribe's chief. In gratitude, the chief gives Peter a pony as a reward.

2 documentary programs. The Oregon Trail is an account of America's longest and most famous pioneer trail, covering the reasons for going, the landscape crossed, and the experience as described in immigrants' diaries. The Pony Express describes the gamble that bankrupted the men who started it, and lasted only 19 months, but made a legend of its riders and provided a vital link between California and the Northern states at the start of the Civil War....

When an ill-tempered horse is selected by a Pony Express rider in 1860, he finds himself in a very dangerous situation and wonders if being hateful is really a good idea.

Gr 4-7 An interesting, if not exhaustive, look at the people who settled the West. With personal accounts and colorful portraits of some of the better known (and rowdier) individuals, Savage creates a cursory overview of the time. He gives the perspective of Native Americans as well as the prospectors and miners. Pony Express tells the story behind the expression, 'The mail must go through!' The riders, thieves, bandits and settlers are portrayed...

A romantic western set before the Civil War, The Young Riders is a fictionalized account of the heyday of the Pony Express mail service, which ran from 1860-1861. The focus is on a group of young express riders based in the Sweetwater, Kansas station, run by an ex-Texas ranger, and an all-around eccentric Teaspoon Hunter. Includes all 24 episodes of Season One.

Examines the establishment of this innovative but short-lived mail delivery system and recounts anecdotes about it.

In Nevada in 1861, a young Pony Express rider races for his life, pursued by seven Paiute warriors who are determined to drive white settlers out of their territory.