St. Joseph, MO

Day 8, Pony Express Museum was our first stop. The famous mail delivery service started right there April 3, 1860. The three founders set out to earn a $1 million government mail contract. In order to accomplish that, they had to prove that the central route was the faster and more reliable route from the East Coast to California. The Government at that time was routing the mail around South America, which took 2 years, eventually thru the Panama Canal (before the Canal) and that wasn’t reliable either. 400-500 horses had to be purchased before the first ride. The relay stations were stationed every 10-15 miles apart. Riders had about 2 minutes to get a drink, go to the bathroom, and change the mochila (the apparatus they used to hold the mail) over to a fresh horse. The riders changed about every 75-100 miles. They had a plaque listing the riders with the name of Billy Hamilton listed. The Pony Express ceased operations with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1961. The Pony made its last run on November 20, 1861. Strange, that it only ran 1 ½ years, but in that time, it completed over 300 runs each way over 600,000 miles and carried more than 33,000 pieces of mail. Every year, the National Pony Express Association rides the trail in a 10 day, round-the-clock, non-stop event. More than 500 riders follow a 1,943 mile route that is close as possible to the original trail.

In the museum was a life size replica of what the covered wagons looked like that traveled over the mountains.

Then onto the Patee House, the headquarters of the Pony Express in 1860, and the finest hotel west of the Mississippi, and Jesse James Museum, the house where James was shot & killed. If you ever get to St. Joseph, Missouri, the Patee House is well worth visiting. We could have spent the whole day there & everyone would have been happy. It was loaded with the history of communications in the United States. In fact, they had a replica of the switchboard the Teamsters Union used when I was first hired in 1972! Bill and I got our photo taken with a life size poster of the tallest man, measuring 8 ft. 11.
And I found a 1950 “remote control” which we are not sure if it was for the TV or the radio.

Jesse James’ house was just next door where you could still see where the bullet lodged into the wall just under the picture that he was trying to straighten when he was shot from behind. In his museum was a replica of Walter Cronkite’s father’s dental office. Walter visited in 2006.

We had lunch at Bandanas Restaurant, a barbecue specialty place. The food was wonderful and plenty to go around. While dining, a visit from Miss Lizzie and Calamity Jane exploded into action.

Mixed with history and humor as these 2 outrageous ladies got the whole group into the act with gun play, robe tricks and old-fashioned fun for all. They were the best part of the whole trip! And I left my video camera on the bus……. I laughed so hard my stomach ached.

On our way to the Wyeth-Tottle Museum, we stopped at the Russell Stover Candy Factory Outlet. No one came out of there empty handed. We arrived at the Wyeth Tottle Museum just after the great-granddaughter of Tottle. It is a gothic styled mansion from the 1880’s, displaying local history, Lewis & Clark, and the Civil War. Many of the rooms have been restored to original elegance for a look at life in the Victorian age.

We were so sad to drop off our guide “Miss Lizzie.”

Day 9 we are off to Gretna, Nebraska.