Items related to Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend...
"Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred." -- Help wanted ad, 1860
The Pony Express exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide. Here is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Inside Flap:
"WANTED. YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY. ORPHANS PREFERRED."
--California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860
The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. "Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of "the Pony," as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer's Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere's midnight ride. "Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.
From the Back Cover:
--California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860
The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. "Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of "the Pony," as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer's Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere's midnight ride. "Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.
"A lively and conversational probe that lays out the real facts about this stirring slice of Americana."--Albuquerque Journal
"A rollicking tale of frontiersmen, showmen, hustlers, hucksters, and frauds."
--CNN
"It's the West in microcosm, and Corbett's breezy writing turns what we thought we knew into a compelling search for fact . . . It's a romantic story that won't die."
--Denver Post
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherThorndike Press
- Publication date2003
- ISBN 10 0786259620
- ISBN 13 9780786259625
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages507
- Rating
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