My 2,000-mile Horseback Journey into the Old West
January 1, 2023
Much has been written about the fabled Pony Express, which delivered mail in relays across the western United States in 1860-61, covering a distance equivalent to riding from Madrid to Moscow. But as recounted here, Outside magazine writer Grant actually rode the entire trail himself (with his horses Chicken Fry and Badger). Fortunately, he's an expert horseman, having cowboyed in Texas and raced the nearly 900-mile Mongol Derby. With a 50,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2023
Genial exploration of the breakneck-ride world of the Wild West's postal carriers. "I got two questions for you. One, how crazy does a guy have to be to ride a horse from Missouri to California? And two, how sore is your ass right about now?" So asked a Nevada rancher of Grant, well into his 100-day, cross-country travels. The questions were apposite. Over the course of his entertaining narrative, the author has occasion to think about at least the first at some leisure. Whereas the original Pony Express, which ran for less than two years, took 10 days to make the distance from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, Grant increased the time tenfold. As Grant points out, the original riders didn't have to face the dangers of "civilization and its infrastructure," as represented by the mile-wide, multilane bridge over the Missouri River just outside St. Joseph and the mad traffic of places such as Salt Lake City. The author shows that sometimes, it does help to ask, for he had assumed that the good people of the city would be in church on Sunday morning, when he hoped to guide his two geldings, named Chicken Fry and Badger, out of town. Not a chance, said one friendly fellow: "We call that the Mormon 500...and there's always traffic." Aware of the vagaries of Sierra Nevada snowfall, too, the interlocutor tells Grant he'd best pick up the pace: "Might be time to find another gear, partner." Amazingly, knowing little but with a wellspring of friendly intention and a lively curiosity about the places he saw and people he met, Grant survived it all. Call it a Travels With Charley with two beat-up but utterly dependable mounts instead of a poodle, and you've got an idea of what this good-natured narrative is all about. It will also appeal to fans of Rinker Buck. Well and self-effacingly written and a pleasure for armchair travelers and Old West buffs.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
April 17, 2023
Journalist Grant debuts with a thoughtful and entertaining account of his five-month trip along the length of the 19th-century overland mail route from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif. Launched in 1860, the Pony Express consisted of a series of way stations spread across 2,000 miles and spaced 10 to 20 miles apart, between which horseback riders carried mail in a relay system. Retracing this route with two horses, Badger and Chicken Fry, Grant evocatively describes the Great Plains of Nebraska, the sagebrush steppe of Wyoming, the Great Basin of Utah, and other geographic landmarks, and reflects on the damage “inflicted” on the western landscape by “modernization.” He takes note of family farms abandoned in the face of industrial agriculture’s ascendancy and Las Vegas’s campaign to purchase “all the water in northern Arizona,” but also finds rewarding connections with farmers, cattlemen, amateur historians, migrant sheep herders, and others he meets along the trail. “The pioneer spirit of the West runs close to the surface of the modern landscape,” he writes. Enriched by Grant’s deep knowledge of the West, matter-of-fact prose, and colorful character sketches, this is a rewarding ride.
Starred review from June 1, 2023
Readers would be forgiven for thinking that journalist Grant's 2,000-mile horseback tribute to the Pony Express sounds like a stunt--but they would also be wrong. The famously and historically quixotic project, which astonishingly delivered mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento in a mere 10 days, was short-lived (April 1860-October 1861) and failed under its own weight. Here, the Pony Express becomes a sturdy framework for the Santa Fe-based author's keen, unaffected, hard-earned observations on the horsemanship, history, topography, flora, fauna, economies, and personalities woven into today's American West. Grant draws respectfully on the many authors before him who tried to make sense of the ever-evolving region, even as he encounters the modern-day farmers (both family and industrial-scale), and men and women ranchers handling cattle and sheep, among others, eking out a living on such unforgiving terrain. The stars here, though, are Grant's two horses, Chicken Fry and Badger, who implacably take on the burden of this long, hot journey, and who serve as living reminders of the true horsepower that drove America's western expansion.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
June 1, 2023
In its 18 months of existence, the Pony Express employed around 80 riders to cover roughly 2,000 miles in 10 days to deliver mail. To ensure that the riders could make the journey, the company set up 190 stations, mostly in Utah, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Nevada, where riders could get water and a fresh mount. Journalist and horseman Grant sets out to ride the Pony Express trail to see what happened to the Wild West. During his 142 days on horseback from St. Joseph, MO, to Sacramento, CA, Grant encounters deserts and mountains wild with mustangs. Between that, he finds ranches, farms, and a lot of paved road. More than a historical reenactment, the author's exploration captures the daily lives of the people who today reside in some of the most desolate areas in the U.S. He also interweaves stories about some of the horses in this narrative. Readers get a glimpse at the American wilderness that remains home to ranchers, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and displaced Indigenous peoples from both sides of the Mississippi. VERDICT Will appeal to lovers of U.S. history and horses.--John Rodzvilla
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.