The First Ride

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

Unlike the mail trucks and airplanes used in Where Does the Mail Go?, in this story the mail carriers wanted are "YOUNG SKINNY WIRY FELLOWS" not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily." Thus begins the original Pony Express adventure depicted in this book. Action-oriented watercolors reveal glimpses into the old West of 1860 and the ten-day journey of horse and rider. The story gives names to these riders and traces their progress toward each town along the 2000-mile-long route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. Historically accurate, this account has been verified by the historian of the Pony Express National Memorial in St. Joseph, Missouri.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Billy Hamilton rode one of the legs of the first Pony Express delivery in 1860. Geis describes a 10-day trip from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from his point of view. He names the riders and talks a bit about them and where they made pickups. He adds some of the practical details, telling about the leather mochila in which the mail was carried and the dangers and challenges of the terrain. His descriptions are fairly interesting, but not especially exciting or memorable. After an inviting introductory page showing a sign that advertises for riders, the narrative soon slips into a fairly dry and uninvolving account. However, Geis's fine, full-page watercolors add flavor to the book, capturing the beauty and the barrenness of the journey without overstatement. A line-drawing map at the bottom of several pages charts the rider's progress. The First Ride works as a solid introduction to the Pony Express, but some readers will wish for a more lively and personal history.-Steven Engelfried, West Lynn Library, OR

Kay Weisman

Focusing on Billy Hamilton, a Pony Express rider from Sportsman's Hall, California, Geis re-creates the first 10-day, 2,000-mile trip along the well-known route to deliver mail in the Old West. Emphasizing the high expectations of employees (who were asked to sign pledges not to drink, swear, or fight with other riders) and the difficult physical conditions they endured, the author describes the public fanfare surrounding this short-lived experiment. Each horseman had his own territory, traveling west to meet the next rider and then waiting several days until the next eastbound delivery was ready. Frequent watercolor paintings portray various locales along the route; a simple map of the trail, connecting Sacramento, California, and St. Joseph, Missouri, and marked with the stops mentioned, further clarifies the text. Van Der Linde's "Pony Express" (1993) offers a more detailed explanation for older readers (and identifies Hamilton as "Sam" rather than "Billy"), but Geis' offering will be just right for young history buffs.