The Pony Express was always looking for riders. The job was so dangerous, deadly really, that their employment posters sought out young men, teenagers, and especially orphans. Below is an actual ad seeking Pony Express riders.
"Wanted, young skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen, must be expert riders willing to risk death daily, orphans preferred."
Although, only one Pony Express rider was killed by Indians during the 19 months of operation, also lost, only one bag of mail.
The real reason that the Pony Express could not keep its riders was because the hard working young men, who rode in all types of weather had a hard time collecting their earnings. They often did not get paid, the company complained about being cash poor, they kept terrible records and seemed to have a hard time collecting the fees owed them for the delivery service.
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