Pony Express Centennial, St. Joseph Gazette, April 1, 1960

Archive

-

St. Joseph Museums

Name/Title

Pony Express Centennial, St. Joseph Gazette, April 1, 1960

Entry/Object ID

AM1981.1.52

Scope and Content

Pony Express Centennial, St. Joseph Gazette, April 1, 1960. Gov. Blair to Attend Centennial. Governor James Blair Jr. has rearranged his schedule in order to be here Sunday to participate in the Pony Express Centennial celebration, Mayor Arthur J. Meers announced last night. The governor's office had notified Mayor Meers several weeks ago that the governor schedule would not permit him to be in St. Joseph at this time. Upon the urging of Mayor Meers, the governor decided to cut short a business trip and will fly in from St. Louis Sunday arriving at Rosecrans Field about 9. He will go from there to the Robidoux hotel, and will then be on the speakers platform for the ceremony which begins at 1 p.m. Other notables will take part in the speaking program which precedes the start of the rerun to Salt Lake City are: Supreme Court Justice Charles Whitaker, Kansas Governor George Docking and Congressman William Hull. There is an artist picture of the rider Billy Richardson on the front page. Lee Stranes of St. Joseph is the artist. The painting is on display at the Pony Express Museum. Two St. Joseph historians Bartlett Boder and Lee Stranes believe Billy was the first pony rider out of St. Joseph 100 years ago. One of the reasons Billy was never credited with the ride earlier was that there was no record of him residing in this area. A recent check of the 1860 city directory for Elwood Kansas shows he resided across the river from St. Joseph, and his employment was listed specifically as expressmen for Russell, Majors and Waddell. On the basis of the evidence it is their opinion that Billy Richardson, not Johnny Fry, should go down in history as the first Pony Express rider. Johnny Fry was foreman of the Fish and Robidoux Delivery stables and Billy Richardson tended horses there. Lots were drawn to choose the first rider. Fry was selected but sprained his wrist attempting to ride an unbroken horse the day before the race was to start. At the last minute Billy was substituted. Johnny Fry was sufficiently recovered to take over his job by April 10, when the second run started, and also to carry in the first return mail from California April 13. This evidence was obtained by Mrs. Louise Platt Hauck of St. Joseph who interviewed many eyewitnesses to the Pony Express start. The study was made in the early 1920s. This edition has an article about the history of the pony express, pictures of W, H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell, the pony Express riders Billy Richardson, Johnny Fry, and a picture of the pony Express Stables.

Lexicon

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Pony express

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

News Clipping

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Maintenance

Maintenance History

Date

Feb 9, 2016

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Arthur Meers

Person or Organization

Rider Richardson

Person or Organization

Johnny Fry

Person or Organization

Whitaker, Charles Supreme Court Justice

Person or Organization

Governor George Docking

Person or Organization

William Hull, Congressman

Person or Organization

Lee Stranes

Person or Organization

Broady Barlett

Person or Organization

Hauck, Louise Platt

Person or Organization

W. H. Russell

Person or Organization

Majors, Alexander

Person or Organization

Waddell, William