Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express

Author Christopher Corbett (Vacationland) tackles the impossible task of documenting the history of the Pony Express in this book. Impossible because all the business records of the Pony Express have been lost or destroyed. What we do know is that the Express’ parent corporation, the Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak Express Company, the FedEx of its day, was essentially bankrupt before the Pony Express even started. Unfortunately for the reader, Corbett only hints at any lawsuits and investigations that followed. Corbett did the best he could, but he flounders about three-quarters of the way through, padding the book with exceedingly long chapters on Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show,” British explorer Sir Richard Burton and Mark Twain’s travels along the route of the Pony Express. With so much legend entwined with the Pony Express, it is amazing that Corbett found any facts.