Pony Express Women

--A footnote from history by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Women aren't often mention in connection with the Pony Express. There's no record of a woman ever taking part as a rider, but that doesn't mean women didn't play an important role. After all, someone had to feed those riders and station keepers and the gaggle of other males working as wranglers and blacksmiths and superintendents. 

But women are often mentioned only in passing as the "wife of" (or as "wives" in the case of stations located in proximity to Salt Lake City, Utah). 

Years ago I read about a woman "in Nebraska Territory" who lived across from a Pony Express station. Here's what was written about her:

"A woman on Plum Creek in Nebraska Territory started a store across from a Pony Express station.  She baked as many as 100 pounds of flour a day, sold bread at 50 cents a loaf and made as much as thirty dollars per day.  She made cheese which she sold at 25 cents a pound and travelers paid as much as $2 for the good meals she prepared."

It wasn't until years later when I visited the Dawson County, Nebraska museum in Lexington, Nebraska, that I learned that woman's name. Louisa Freeman's blue cupboard is on display at the museum. I was thrilled to finally "meet" the woman who worked harder than I can imagine. I wonder if she even had time to see the Pony Express riders flash by!

Other women directly connected to the Pony Express include:

In Kansas 

• Mrs. Tom Perry of Kennekuk Station, a fine enough cook to receive praise in print from none other than Mark Twain (he mentioned her excellent coffee). 
• Seneca Station was actually located at a two-story hotel. According to historian Joseph di Certo, "Pony riders enjoyed this home station not only for its comfortable accommodations, but also because Mrs. Smith was an excellent cook."
• An immigrant from French-speaking Alsatia owned the ranch in Marshall County where one traveler remarked on ham and eggs, hot rolls and coffee, served "fresh and good." 



Sophia Hollenberg

• Sophia Brockemeyer Hollenberg (pictured at right) and her husband, Gerat, founded Hollenberg Station (operated as a historic site by the Kansas State Historical Society). 

In Wyoming

• Molly Slade and her children lived at Horseshoe station where the station keeper (her husband) was not only a division superintendent for the Pony Express but also a notorious gunslinger. 
• Three Crossings (home station to a young rider named William F. Cody) was kept by a Mormon couple named Moore, who'd stopped there instead of going on to Salt Lake City in Utah "upon learning that the men in Salt Lake City had more than one wife." Mrs. Moore is remembered as an "excellent cook and a spotless housekeeper."

When I imagine conversations in the West, I don't think of accents, but:

• An English couple ran Little Sandy station. 
• At Ham's Fork Station a Scot was the keeper--along with his two wives.
• Muddy Creek Station was operated by "a French Canadian and his wife." 

In 1776, Abigail Adams famously encouraged her husband to "remember the ladies." 

What women from history do you think deserve more attention? Tell us in a comment below (no later than Friday, April 15, 2016) and your name will be entered in the Saturday, April 16, 2016 drawing to win a free copy of Stephanie's tribute to the women of the Pony Express, Messenger by Moonlight, releasing in May.

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