George Edwin Little
(Great Grandfather of Doris Brown Hicks)
George
Edwin Little was three years old when he and his mother arrived in Salt Lake, 2
October 1847. In 1859, George was 15 years old, the Pony Express was used
for delivering mail across the United States. "Pap" Ephraim Hanks had
taught Edwin many things pertaining to survival in the mountains as well as
faith and courage. So George Edwin rode the Pony Express for 16 months or
as long as it existed.
After he married Martha Taylor of England, they lived in Salt Lake and in Tooele, Utah. In May 1890, he moved his family to the Teton Basin in Idaho. They first had a saw mill in Teton Canyon. Later made a home in Haden, Fremont County, Idaho (Haden is now farm lands in Teton, Teton County, Idaho). There they raised livestock, kept a post office, a home for travelers, and George carried the mail in the valley. They were parents of fourteen children.
Pony Express Information
More than 1,800 miles in 10 days! From St.
Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California the Pony Express could deliver a
letter more quickly than ever before.
In operation for only 18 months between April 1860 and October 1861, the Pony
Express nevertheless has become synonymous with the Old West. In the era before
electronic communication, the Pony Express was the thread that tied East to
West.
As a result of the 1849 Gold Rush, the 1847 Mormon exodus to Utah and the
thousands who moved west on the Oregon Trail starting in the 1840s, the need for
a fast mail service beyond the Rocky Mountains became obvious. This need was
partially filled by outfits such as the Butterfield Overland Mail Service
starting in 1857 and private carriers in following years.
But when postmaster general Joseph Holt scaled back overland mail service to
California and the central region of the country in 1858, an even greater need
for mail arose. The creation of the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company by
William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell became the answer.
It was later known as the Pony Express.
"Men Wanted” The undersigned wishes to hire ten or a dozen men,
familiar with the management of horses, as hostlers, or riders on the Overland
Express Route via Salt Lake City. Wages $50 per month and found.”
- Ad in Sacramento Union, March 19, 1860.
Notes taken from http://www.nps.com