Have you ever thought about the journey your letter takes once you drop it in the mailbox? Today it takes only a few days for a letter to travel from one part of the country to another. But until 1860 that journey was much slower—and more dangerous. It took three weeks for stagecoaches to deliver mail from Missouri to California, and along the way they had to battle mountain snowstorms, desert heat, and countless other perils. There had to be a faster, more efficient way to get mail across the untamed frontier—but how? Finally, on April 3, 1860, the first riders of the Pony Express were put to the test. Over the course of ten days, through a series of relays, eighty men and five hundred horses would risk death in order to travel thousands of miles and connect the East to the West.

Expert storyteller and history buff Cheryl Harness brings these legendary couriers and their extraordinary race across the country vividly to life. Her engaging text and detailed, dramatic watercolor paintings and maps promise to fascinate readers, as an exciting chapter in American history unfolds for them.

From the dust jacket