{"product_id":"on-the-pony-express-trail-one-mans-bikepacking-journey-to-discover-history-from-a-different-kind-of-saddle-paperback","title":"On the Pony Express Trail: One Man's Bikepacking Journey to Discover History from a Different Kind of Saddle - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eScott Alumbaugh\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScott 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. Along the way he came to see the celebrated Pony Express as a collection of fables based on a few historical facts and reshaped into a symbol of the spirit that \"won the West.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn The Pony Express Trail: One Man's Bikepacking Journey to Discover History from a Different Kind of Saddle\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eScott Alumbaugh \u003c\/b\u003eis an avid cyclist who has ridden numerous ultra-distance events. His short fiction has been published in \u003ci\u003eStoryQuarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKestrel\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHunger Mountain Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlack Fork Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMeat for Tea\u003c\/i\u003e. His stories have been read onstage by professional actors at Stories on Stage Davis and Stories on Stage Sacramento. Before realizing his true passions lay far outside the courtroom, he practiced business litigation in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 314\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.68 x 8.82 x 6.03 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 01, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50333156311277,"sku":"9781493068692","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0020\/8918\/9441\/files\/ju7ErG6PGK9781493068692.webp?v=1784979346","url":"https:\/\/www.webster.direct\/products\/on-the-pony-express-trail-one-mans-bikepacking-journey-to-discover-history-from-a-different-kind-of-saddle-paperback","provider":"Webster.Direct","version":"1.0","type":"link"}