The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey into the Old West

In 2019, journalist Grant undertook a 2,000-mile solo journey on horseback, retracing the Pony Express route from Saint Joseph, MO, to Sacramento, CA. Grant’s first-person account, narrated by Kevin Stillwell, traces his journey from the initial planning stages through his reflections after his 142-day trip ended. Grant provides a window into his bold adventure, inviting listeners to imagine what Pony Express riders encountered on this journey that once took only 10 days to complete. As he travels, accompanied by his horses, Chicken Fry and Badger, Grant interweaves inspiration gleaned from the writings of newspaper publisher Horace Greeley and explorer Richard Burton and facts and figures on wide-ranging topics, including the number of people who die annually in corn silos. With evocative descriptions of the landscape and the people he encounters, he contrasts the legend of the Old West—perhaps mere fantasy—with the reality of the modern U.S. West. Stillwell’s warm narration makes every backbreaking and dusty mile come to life.