Pony Express Bible
The Pony Express Bible is a Protestant Bible that was distributed to the Pony Express riders by the operators of the company in 1860 and 1861. In addition, the riders were required to sign pledges related to upholding their behavior according to specified Christian principles.
Description[]
The special edition leather-bound Bible was given to all the employees by the operators Russell, Majors and Waddell.[1][2] Its dimensions are about 5.7 inches (14.5 cm) tall by 3.6 inches (9.1 cm) wide and a little over 2 inches thick.[3][4] It has 1,278 double-columned pages.[5]
The copies of the Bible were specifically commissioned by Alexander Majors and contained full Protestant canon of both the Old and New Testaments. The firm had originally purchased these special copies for their company's wagon-train employees.[6] The Bibles had gold lettering on the cover with a contemporary inscription and the wording, "Presented by Russell, Majors & Waddell. 1858".[7] The source for the Old and New Testaments was an 1858 King James Version published by the American Bible Society in New York City.[3]
On commencing employment, a Pony Express rider was given one of the special edition Bibles.[8] The rider had to swear to and sign the frontier pledge of loyalty, honesty, and sobriety,[9][10] that was on the inside front cover of the Bible:[11] It appears that the 183 riders employed from April 1860 to November 1861 did not take the pledge very seriously. On the whole, they were considered "dreadful, rough and unconventional".[12]
Background[]
Alexander Majors, one of the original operators of the Pony Express, had religious convictions and required his employees to sign a pledge about their beliefs and behavior, which he based on the Christian Bible.[13][14] For instance, employees were forbidden from swearing in public or drinking intoxicating alcoholic beverages; further, each rider was to honor Sunday as a day of rest.[15]
Initially the Pony Express riders were each issued certain pieces of equipment to carry, which included a bowie knife, and the Pony Express Bible.[16]
Later, most riders abandoned such equipment, because it was too heavy to carry and considered unnecessary for their journey.[16] Some sources say that the riders did take the Bibles, at least initially.[13] Other sources say the riders never carried the Bibles, since these added weight that would slow down their ponies.[15] As an example of how lightly they traveled, many riders carried only a single pistol with an extra cylinder of bullets as a weapon on their rides.[16] Some didn't take any gun, relying instead on the speed of their pony to outrun hostilities.[16]
Locations[]
The Forty-fifth Annual Report of the American Bible Society shows 300 copies of the Bibles granted May 9, 1861, to Major and Russell by the Society.[17] As of the last record in 1960, 12 copies survived.[18] Since 1980 only two of these Bibles have come on the market for public purchase.[4]
- 2 copies – Pony Express History and Art Gallery, San Rafael, California
- 2 copies – Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah
- 1 copy – Sons of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah
- 1 copy – Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California
- 1 copy – Denver City Library (Main), Denver, Colorado[19]
- 1 copy – Mormon Station State Historical Monument, Genoa, Nevada
- 1 copy – Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska
- 1 copy – State Historical Society of Colorado, Denver, Colorado
- 1 copy – Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California
- 1 copy – California Historical Society, San Francisco, California
- 1 copy – A.Z. Fell and Co. Antiquarian and Unusual Books, Soho, London
A copy of the Bible is also held by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.[20]
Society of California Pioneers[]
- Pony Express Bible owned by the Society of California Pioneers.
Overland Mail Company[]
The Pony Express route that the riders used went through Utah, Nebraska and Kansas. They shared relay stations with the Butterfield Overland Mail Company stagecoach line. When the Pony Express firm was disbanded in 1861, the Overland Mail Company took over the western sections of the Pony Express route that went to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express route went through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.[21]
The Overland Mail Company station operators were issued the American Bible Society's 1859 edition of the Bible, which was the same as the 1858 edition of it.[22]
Pawn Stars[]
On the Pawn Stars television program in season 8, episode 55, called "Ponies and Phonies" (April 24, 2014), the Overland Mail Company Bible is compared to the Pony Express Bible by rare book consultant Rebecca Romney.[23]
See also[]
- Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Co.
- Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
Footnotes[]
- ^ Godfrey 1994, p. 62.
- ^ Chapman 1932, p. 300.
- ^ a b Newberry Library 1968, p. 46.
- ^ a b Heritage Auctions 2010, p. 95.
- ^ "Original Russell, Majors & Waddell "Pony Express Bible," 1858". The Ephemera Network. Mike Ferguson. 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
- ^ Livingston 1948, p. 46.
- ^ Parke-Bernet Galleries 1947, p. 9.
- ^ Corbett 2003, p. 3.
- ^ Settle 1975, p. 45 When the job was done [recruiting], about thirty riders had signed Majors' pledge, given bond for the faithful performance of their duty, and received a little Bible.
- ^ Guthrie & Smith 2009, p. 21.
- ^ "UCB Library Catalog". The Regents of the University of California. University of California. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
- ^ Bradley & Smith 1960, p. 66.
- ^ a b Jeffrey 2010, p. 22.
- ^ Settle 1975, p. 7 Quote: "In writing that pledge and requiring his employees to sign and keep it, Majors was giving expression to his lifelong, stern, Calvinistic Presbyterian sentiments. He read his Bible regularly, attended church when he could, and sought to practice Christian principles in all his relations with other men." Note: This description was written about Majors before he established the Pony Express, but he required similar pledges from employees of his various companies..
- ^ a b "Pony Express: Romance versus Reality". National Postal Museum. Smithsonian Institution. 2014. Archived from the original on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
- ^ a b c d "The Pony Express in Nevada". U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 1990. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
- ^ "Did ABS Print a Special Pony Express Bible?". American Bible Society News. American Bible Society. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
- ^ "The Famous 1858 "Pony Express Bible"". Heritage Auctions. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
- ^ "Catalog Card Call Number: C220.52 B47ho". DPL Catalog Cards. Denver Public Library. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments, translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised". Library of Congress Catalog.
- ^ "Pony Express Route". Pony Express History. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
- ^ "Chronological History of the Bible – 19th Century/1851-1900". Clausen Books. 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
- ^ "History Channel / Pawn Stars / Episodes 2014". History. A&E Television Networks. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
Bibliography[]
- Bradley, Glenn Danford; Smith, Waddell F. (1960). The Story of the Pony Express. Edited by Waddel F. Smith. (Second Edition.) [With "The Pony Express: Heroic Effort-tragic End" by Raymond W. Settle. With Plates, Including Portraits.]. San Francisco.
- Chapman, Arthur (1932). The Pony Express: The Record of a Romantic Adventure in Business. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
- Corbett, Christopher (2003). Orphans preferred : the twisted truth and lasting legend of the Pony Express. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN 0767906926.
- Godfrey, Anthony (1994). Pony Express National Historic Trail. National Park Service.
- Guthrie, Carol; Smith, Bart (2009). The Pony Express: An Illustrated History. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-0-7627-6202-6.
- Heritage Auctions (2010). HSA Americana Auction Catalog #6035, Dallas, TX. Heritage Capital Corporation. ISBN 978-1-59967-459-9.
- Jeffrey, Grant R. (2010). The Signature of God, Revised Edition: Conclusive Proof That Every Teaching, Every Command, Every Promise in the Bible Is True. Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-45905-3.
- Livingston, Luther Samuel (1948). American Book Prices Current. Bancroft-Parkman.
- Newberry Library (1968). A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-77579-1.
- Parke-Bernet Galleries (1947). Sales. Parke-Bernet Galleries.
- Settle, Raymond (1975). The story of the Pony Express. London, New York: Foulsham. ISBN 0572008775.
External links[]
- American frontier
- Central Overland Route
- Express mail
- 1860 in the United States
- 1861 in the United States
- History of United States expansionism
- Religion and technology
- 18th-century Christian texts
- Christianity and society in the United States
- Pony Express
- Pony Express stations
- 1857 books
- 1858 books
- 1859 books
- 1860 books
- 1861 books
- Bible