pony express
noun
a former system in the American West of carrying mail and express by relays of riders mounted on ponies, especially the system operating (1860–61) between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
Origin of pony express
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Words nearby pony express
pontus,
pontus euxinus,
pontypool,
pontypridd,
pony,
pony express,
pony league,
pony pack,
pony trekking,
pony truss,
pony up
Example sentences from the Web for pony express
During 1860, and until the outbreak of the Civil War, Cody lived the arduous life of a pony-express rider.
Buffalo Bill's Spy Trailer |Colonel Prentiss Ingraham
British Dictionary definitions for pony express
pony express
noun
(in the American West) a system of mail transport that employed relays of riders and mounts, esp that operating from Missouri to California in 1860–61
Cultural definitions for pony express
Pony Express
A system of mail service by relays of riders on horses, established in 1860 between Missouri and California, through the Rocky Mountains. It operated for only a year and a half, until a telegraph line eliminated the need for it.
notes for Pony Express
An early advertisement for Pony Express riders is well known: “Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”
notes for Pony Express
Buffalo Bill (see also
BuffaloBill) Cody and Wild Bill
Hickok were Pony Express riders in their youth.