A visit to The Pony Express National Museum perfectly encapsulates the hope, promise, and hardship of the western United States in the mid 1800s. The horseback riding heroes brought people together who had previously been separated by immense and insurmountable distance. They exchanged letters, mail, and news from people across the western United States. Their journeys began in St. Joseph Missouri and ended in Sacramento California. This helped give Americans a sense that though the country is vast, all citizens are in it together. This sense has evolved today through technology, but it started with The Pony Express.

When one visits The Pony Express National Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, s/he will be transported into the 1860s from the relics of the past. The state-of-the-art exhibits do an excellent job at making visitors feel a part of the history they are learning about. The pictures, letters, and relics give a glimpse into the life of the old American West. The museum paints a clear picture of the sheer will it took for the riders to get their messages from Missouri to California. The trail was fraught with danger of many kinds. Riders had to traverse through rough terrains, with scarce water, where bandits and outlaws roamed the land. All this, they dealt with, to share information with the rest of the country. It is an incredible profile in history that is perfectly illuminated at The Pony Express National Museum.