The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

Matt Edgars longs for his life the way it used to be when he lived in Kansas and helped his dad with the horses and the farm.  Since his dad had died, he and his Mom moved to San Francisco, but as he got older, he eagerly watched for ways to fill his life with new adventures.  When he saw a poster advertising for boys his age to become riders on horseback to carry the mail between San Francisco, California and St. Joseph, Missouri, he was thrilled to get a job as a Pony Express Rider.  He worked hard getting the mail delivered, with the added challenges of wild animals, dangerous snakes, and desert heat -- even keeping ahead of someone who was setting fire to the Express stations!  Delivering President Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address took seven days and seventeen hours -- the fastest piece of mail delivered by the Pony Express riders.  If you like historical fiction, you'll enjoy this story about the last days of the Pony Express, which helped make quick communication possible between the new Western States and the East before the telegraph was invented.