On the Pony Express Trail

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The Pony Express has a hold on the American imagination wildly out of proportion to its actual role in the history of the West. The system of transporting mail to California by a relay of lone riders on swift horses ran less than eighteen months in 1860-1861 and failed by every measure of success. Nevertheless, it has become the most iconic symbol of the West.

Scott Alumbaugh was so taken with the Pony Express that at age 62 he bikepacked 1,400 miles of the trail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Salt Lake City, Utah. Alumbaugh’s journey took five weeks on a route that was mostly off-road, sometimes through remote territory.

On The Pony Express Trail: One Man’s Bikepacking Journey to Discover History from a Different Kind of Saddle recounts Scott Alumbaugh’s experience bikepacking the Pony Express Trail during the summer of 2021. The narrative follows his day-to-day experiences and impressions—the challenges, the sites he visited, the country he rode through, and the interactions with the people he met—while taking a fresh look at the real Pony Express in the context of mid-1800s historical events along the trail: The Mexican-American, Utah, and Paiute Wars; the California and Pike’s Peak gold rushes; the overland emigration of hundreds of thousands to Oregon and California; the exodus of tens of thousands of Mormons to Utah; and the increasingly contentious fight over slavery along with the looming threat of civil war.

“Scott Alumbaugh’s entertaining account of his six-week bikepacking trip along the Pony Express Trail isn’t just for cyclists, but for anyone who loves adventure and American history. The author skillfully interweaves his biking experiences with Pony Express history and the geography of the trail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The real highlights… are the author’s stories of cycling the trail and of the personalities he met along the way. Like the covered wagon emigrants who shared the Pony Express Trail corridor, Alumbaugh found himself bogged in sticky Kansas mud, battled swarms of fierce mosquitoes, struggled with labor-intensive water crossings, sometimes lost his way, and made on-the-spot routing decisions that he came to regret. Also like those emigrants, he met generous, caring people along the trail who offered meals, shelter, and companionship. These heartwarming encounters are ‘chicken soup for the American soul’.”

Lee Kreutzer, retired federal archaeologist and author