Recounts Will Cody's, later known as Buffalo Bill, legendary Pony Express ride where he covers 322 miles, using twenty-one horses, and taking over twenty-one hours to complete.

A family's cross-country communication changes during the development and demise of the Pony Express.

Twelve-year-old Colton, son of a black mother and a white father, takes a job with the Pony Express in 1860 after his father abandons the family on their California-bound wagon train, and risks his life to deliver an important letter that may affect the growing conflict between the North and South.

Having returned from living with his friends the Shoshoni, seventeen-year-old Jimmy Spoon grows restless again and seeks adventure by taking a job with the Pony Express.