The
Iron Man of the
Pony Express. In
1860, he made a
round trip between
Virginia City and
Smith's Creek.
Indians had scared off the
horses at the
relay station, so Bob had to ride most of the way to
Buckland's station on one horse, while trying to stay ahead of pursuing
Paiute Indians. Haslam got a
fresh horse and a
$50 bonus when he agreed to keep riding from Buckland's station because the
relief rider was afraid to ride with all the
hostile Indians around. He arrived on time at
Smith's Creek, then galloped back to
Buckland's station, where he was offered
$100 to complete the
trip. He rode back to
Virginia City on the same
horse that he rode in on two days earlier. Bob made the 400-mile round trip on less than
12 hours of
sleep.
The next year, Pony Bob set a
speed record while carrying
Abraham Lincoln's
inaugural address partway to
California. He took two
arrow wounds as he galloped at almost 15 mph along "
Ambush Trail." When the news arrived in
San Francisco, it had traveled almost
2,000 miles in seven days and 17 hours.
Research from GURPS Old West by Ann Dupuis, Liz Tornabene, Lynda Manning-Schwartz, and Rob Smith, published by Steve Jackson Games, 1991, p. 52.