Name/Title
First Ride of the Pony Express, Hargens Painting, News Photo, c. 1938Entry/Object ID
AM1972.14.1QQScope and Content
First Ride of the Pony Express, Hargens Painting, News Photo, c. 1938. St. Joseph News-Press. Shows the famous painting by artist, Charles Hargens, of a Pony Express Rider, hat waving to crowd, galloping away from the Stables on the first ride of this new mail service in 1860.
Caption: The scene pictured above is considered an accurate reproduction of what actually took place in St. Joseph late in the afternoon of April 3, 1860. After waiting more than two hours for a train that was late, the rider, belived by some historians to have been Johnny Frye, had taken his bay mare back into the barn to protect her from souvenir hunters, who were trying to pull hairs from her mane and tail. Charles Hargens of Philadelphia painted the picture for the M.K. Goetz Brewing Company. He made the barn from a photograph and the horse, rider, appointments and crowd from descriptions and by drawing on his own knowledge of the old West. Hargens' father was mayor of Deadwood, S. D. and Hargens maintains a studio in the Black Hills. He made a careful study of clothes and scenes of the old West and is regarded as one of the best of the artists specializing in that subject."Lexicon
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Person or Organization
Hargens, Charles