Rider coming in! Robert Haslam jumped up and ran to get his horse. He had already put on the reigns and saddle. He knew that it was his turn to run the Pony Express mail. Pony Bob, as he was called by his friends, loved the excitement of running the mail as fast as he could. And right now is was more exciting. The Paiutes were on the war path! Read about the longest pony express ride. RL:2.8
“WANTED. YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY. ORPHANS PREFERRED.” —California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860 The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of “the Pony,” as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer’s Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.
The Colosseum of Rome is one of the few ancient wonders that still survives to this day. Historians have learned much about this fantastic structure, and about the lives of Roman citizens through the study of this one building. It quickly became the center of Rome, the ultimate entertainment for the masses, and a tool for politicians. Built of stone and concrete over a period of ten years by 60,000 Jewish slaves, it has stood for nearly 2,000 years. Do you know: What horrible event allowed the colosseum to be built? What was the colosseum in roman originally called? When was the Roman colosseum first used? Did the colosseum ever have a roof? How long did it take to empty the colosseum of people? Find out the answers to these questions and more and amaze your family and friends with these fun facts. Ages 8 and up. All measurements in American and metric. Reading Level: 6.8 Learning Island believes in the value of children practicing reading for 15 minutes every day. Our 15-Minute Books give children lots of fun, exciting choices to read, from classic stories, to mysteries, to books of knowledge. Many books are appropriate for hi-lo readers. Open the world of reading to a child by having them read for 15 minutes a day.
'Rollicking, adventurous, touching. Whether the reader invests only a few minutes at a time or finishes the book at one sitting, he is in for a lot of fun.' - American West'Fascinating tales set down succinctly and excitingly. There are stories of lost treasure and sudden riches, of outlaws and sheriffs, of massacres and heroics.' - Kansas City Times'A fun book. Where else but in the frontier West were such stories really lived?' - Richard Bartlett, author of Great Surveys of the American West and The New Country: A Social History of the American Frontier
