Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

​My humans like to stay informed. They read newspapers, listen to the radio, watch TV and  have news apps on their phones. Hundreds of years ago people did not have the radio, TV and phone apps. They had some newspapers but many people did not even know how to read. So how did people receive information? They used "word of mouth". Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication. 
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Have you ever played the game of telephone? It shows how word of mouth works. If you have never played the game,  gather family and friends and give it a try. Here are the rules: 


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1. Getting Started. Players must sit in a circle or stand in a straight line. They need to be close enough that whispering is possible, but not so close that players can hear each other whisper.
2. Begin the Game. The first person in the line or circle whispers a word or phrase into the ear of the person sitting or standing to their right. The word or phrase can only be whispered once, so players must pay close attention.
3. The Game Continues. Players whisper the phrase to their neighbors until it reaches the last player in line.
4. The Conclusion. The last player says the word or phrase out loud so everyone can hear how much it has changed from the first whisper at the beginning of the circle or line.

As you can imagine, the message probably changes as it goes from person to person; it shows how small misconceptions can end up making a huge difference!

​Today we hear a lot about "Fake News". Even with all of the communication tools available today, the message is often misinterpreted and changed.

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So how did "word of mouth" work? In the ancient world messengers  traveled on foot to deliver messages. That took a very long time! People often did not know what was even happening in a village just 50 miles away. People had no idea that there were wars in other parts of the world. The people in ancient Europe did not have chariots; they didn't even know that the people in ancient Egypt were driving around in chariots until hundreds of years later! So, not only did news travel slowly, even inventions spread very slowly throughout the ancient world. But that all changed when people started to harness the power of the horse! For thousands of years the horse was the fastest way to get information from one place to another. Throughout history there have been many great stories of horses that helped to spread the word.
Here are just a few stories. I wrote a news headline for each story - aren't I clever?

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Horse Helps Spread a New Religion

Did you know that Buddhism started with a journey on a horse? Buddhism is the world's fourth largest religion with over 520 million followers. 

Siddhartha was born in Nepal during the 4th century BC. According to legend, Siddhartha was a prince born into power and privilege. When the Prince came into manhood, he was given a pure white horse named Kanthaka who escorted him wherever he went. Even as Siddhartha rode Kanthaka while learning war game exercises, things were carried out in a most delicate manner; an umbrella was held above the young Prince's head day and night to protect him from cold, heat, dust, dirt, and dew, even while riding his horse. Siddhartha, mounted on Kanthaka, proved his capabilities as a warrior too. But then at the age of 29 Siddhartha and Kanthaka journeyed through his father’s kingdom and witnessed sickness and cruelty for the first time so he decided to leave behind his life of luxury and to seek enlightenment. According to legend he started out on his journey with Kanthaka and "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent the palace guards from knowing of his departure. When Siddhartha dismounted for the last time, Kanthaka died of a broken heart caused by the separation from the one he loved. Yet in an act of divine grace, the faithful horse was reincarnated as an enlightened human being.

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Governor Dispatches First Post Rider 

​When the colonies in the Northeast of America were first settled in the early 1600s, the communities lying between Boston and New York were virtually isolated from one another. On January 22, 1673, Governor Francis Lovelace of New York dispatched the first post rider to effectively connect New York and Boston and provide mail service for the settlements which lay on the way. The route taken by this first post rider carried him to New Haven, Hartford, and then Springfield, Massachusetts. The route then followed the “Bay Path,” a former Indian trail, on to Boston. This route was known as the Upper Boston Post Road, and the total journey from New York to Boston was some 250 miles. The post rider remained the principle means of communication in colonial America and his services were not replaced until improved roads permitted stagecoach travel in the late 1700’s.  The horse provided the means to carry goods to market, to speed people from one city to another, and to carry settlers into the interior of America. Muddy paths gave way to a well-designed road system. The stagecoach eventually afforded a means of mass transit whereby people could move about in relative safety and comfort

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Posts Arrive in Virginia from Massachusetts 
in Only Four Days! 

In  1763 Benjamin Franklin was the colonial postmaster general of his majesty's provinces. In this  painting (left) of Franklin in his one-horse chaise, he is receiving an important communiqué from a post rider. His daughter is riding along on horseback. The noted scientist, philosopher, and statesman personally inspected all colonial post offices from Rhode Island to Philadelphia. He devised safer ferry crossings, championed better connecting roads, and measured for milestone markers in his ever-diligent and farsighted efforts to unite the colonies. At this time, it took four weeks for a letter from Boston to reach Williamsburg, Virginia!

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It's a Capital Offense to Steal a Horse​!

The speed of the horse made it valuable in delivering messages to political leaders and generals during the American Revolution. Long before telegraph, telephone and the internet, the horse was the fastest way to deliver a message. At a canter a horse could travel up to 25-30 mph for short distances and trot up to 8-12 mph over a sustained period. Horses also hauled supplies and armaments. Despite occupying every major city, the British remained at a disadvantage in the countryside where the use of the horse proved to be a critical element for transport and communication. The kind of warfare employed by the colonists required swift pursuit and withdrawal. The horse was the deciding factor in these types of tactics used to defeat a better organized yet less adaptable enemy.  The value of a horse was so high, that it was a capital offense to steal one.

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Sallie and Captain Jouett Save Thomas Jefferson

Sallie, ridden by Captain Jack Jouett, saved Thomas Jefferson and other important legislators from capture. On the night of June 3–4, 1781, Jack Jouett rode about forty miles from Louisa County to Charlottesville to warn state officials of the approaching British Army. The British had been threatening Richmond and central Virginia since the spring, and the General Assembly had fled to Charlottesville. On June 3, British cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, assembled in Louisa County to attack Charlottesville. Jouett noticed them, guessed their intentions, and raced ahead to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson, whose term had just ended, and other members of the state government. The assembly escaped to Staunton while Jefferson retreated first to Monticello and then, eventually, to his second home at Poplar Forest, leaving Virginia without an elected governor for a few days. The ride was noted as “probably…the most difficult feat of horsemanship known to history,” by one authority at the time.

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The Red Coats are Coming!

The horse Paul Revere rode on April 18th, 1775 was perhaps named Brown Beauty. Esther Forbes, Paul Revere’s Pulitzer Prize winning biographer, argues forcibly that the horse that Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington was a Narragansett Pacer borrowed from Deacon Larkin of Charlestown but this has been debated. Paul Revere attempted to ride to Concord to warn that the British were coming but he was captured on the road to Concord. The 15-mile ride was mostly at a walk with an occasional spurring onwards. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow later immortalized Revere by focusing on him—instead of fellow riders William Dawes and Samuel Prescott

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Sixteen year Old Girl Musters the Militia

Everyday citizens knew what was at stake and aided the war effort in a multitude of ways, and 16-year-old Sybil Ludington was one of these informal soldiers. Her father, Colonel Ludington had trained his family on how to protect each other and their home.
 
When a messenger arrived at the Ludington farm on April 26, 1777, too exhausted to travel further, Sybil became the logical choice to ride out and muster the militia. Her father needed to stay at the farm and order the troops as they arrived. British General William Tryon had landed off the coast, moving inland unopposed. His 2,000 soldiers reached the town of Danbury, Connecticut, and set fire to private homes and the Continental Army storehouses of meat, flour, rice, molasses, uniforms, shoes and gunpowder, all vital supplies for the colonists’ war effort. The message that Danbury was burning was an important one. If Tryon’s army continued, they would soon reach the large warehouses at Fredericksburg, potentially crippling the revolutionary movement, or they could attack General George Washington’s army 2 days away at Peekskill. The militia troops had taken a break from months of battle, returning home to plant their spring crops and scattering across many miles.
 
Sybil mounted up.  She took off through the dark rain, riding from farm to farm on the 40-mile circuit. When she finally reached home at dawn, nearly 400 militiamen had gathered on the Ludington farm. They immediately marched to Danbury, fewer in number than the British but with surprise on their side. The British may also have been hindered by consuming the colonists’ stores of rum the night before. This became known as the Battle of Ridgefield. The militia joined with Continental Army troops to drive General Tryon’s army back to their ships, an instrumental day in preserving the course of the American War of Independence. The militia were able to push the British off Long Island Sound thanks to her quick warning. Often young women and boys were messenger riders because they were light in weight and skilled riders.   

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Horse and Rider Save the Union

Winchester (aka Rienzi) (ca. 1858-1878) was General Philip Sheridan’s horse during the American Civil War. Winchester was a jet-black stallion with three white socks. He was foaled in Grand Rapids, Michigan and his bloodline included Morgan horses of the prestigious Black Hawk line. He had a long stride and walked at roughly 5 mph. At more than 16 hands high, he was big for the slightly built General Sheridan. Sheridan rode Winchester/Rienzi almost constantly for the next three years -- including forty five engagements and nineteen fierce battles and cavalry raids. Winchester/ Rienzi became a national celebrity in October, 1864 when he played a role in saving the Union Army from defeat at Cedar Creek. Sheridan was in Washington DC for a staff meeting, when Confederates launched a surprise attack on his troops in Cedar Creek Virginia. Sheridan was still twenty miles away in Winchester when he awoke to the sound of cannons. Sheridan rode Rienzi at full gallop towards his troops arriving in time to rally his soldiers: "Men, by God, we'll whip them yet!" he shouted. Sheridan's troops rallied and prevailed. In the poem, “Sheridan’s Ride,” Thomas Buchanan Read tells the story of the most dramatic ride in military history. The historic ride created a media frenzy and inspired paintings, prints, songs and monuments.  After his death in October 1878, Winchester/Rienzi was preserved and mounted and is on display at the National Museum of American History. 
 

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Pony Express Riders Travel 2,000 Miles in Ten Days!

As cities and towns developed, there was a need for timely communication between the settlements. The Pony Express operated from April 3, 1860 to October 24, 1861. It was founded, owned and operated by the freighting firm of William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell.
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The purpose was to provide a faster mail delivery service between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. These men were interested in transportation and their reason for establishing the Pony Express was to prove that the central route was viable all year long and their interest in obtaining the government mail contracts. At the brink of the Civil War, California was thought to be thinking about secession and communication with the east was crucial.  Though the Government made many false promises to the founders, they believed that the Pony Express should keep on running.  Russell, Majors and Waddell felt their obligation to their country and kept it running without regard to their own sacrifice and loss.  They assured that California and her gold would remain in the Union.

Most riders were around 20 years old; the youngest was 11 and the oldest was 40. Approximately 183 men rode for The Pony Express. 400 horses were purchased to stock the express route. Common breeds were Mustangs, Thoroughbreds, Pintos and Morgans. The average horse was 14.2 hands and a weighed 900 pounds.

Riders rode one horse for 10-15 miles, and then changed out for a fresh mount. Each rider rode about a 75-100 mile stretch until relieved by a new rider. Overall, the route was around 2,000 miles, and took about 10 days. The cost was $5 per ½ ounce in the beginning and eventually the cost was $1 per half ounce towards the end. The riders carried a “Mochila”- a mail pouch held in place by the rider’s weight. (left) Each corner had a lockable pocket and it held 20 pounds of mail.

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Take a Ride on the Pony Express

I hope you have enjoyed reading about lots of famous horses and people. Today we have many ways to get our information quickly but remember, for thousands of years, the horse was the fastest means of communication. Many people did heroic deeds to get information from one place to another. Now is you chance to do that! Here is a game where you can try your skill at being a  Pony Express rider. Good luck!