After weeks of publicity that heralded the Pony Express as "the Greatest Enterprise of Modern Times," the first run became a much-anticipated event across the country. At the scheduled moment, the afternoon of April 3, large crowds turned out both in San Francisco, California, and St. Joseph, Missouri, to give the Pony Express riders a proper send-off. If all went according to plan, consignments of mail would be carried out of both towns at the same hour, pass somewhere in the middle of the country, and arrive at the opposite terminals two thousand miles away ten days later. Author Howard Driggs, who interviewed several Pony riders later in their lives, observes:

No wires, no radio, no aeroplane, could keep the nation informed of the progress of the momentous race. It was a pioneer attempt in itself to bring three frontiers&mdash...