KY Woman, (Mrs. Ida Minton), who carries mail on horseback, 1896. ------------------------------- From: NeonipME@aol.com Date: Thursday, November 12, 1998 -------------------------------- Kentucky Woman who Carries the Mail on Horseback from the Maine Farmer 25 Oct 1896 courtesy of David C. Young of Maine, 1998 The road from Castlow to Andersonville is through one of the roughest region of Kentucky. Robberies are frequent and many a brave man has hesitated and looked well to his gun before entering on the trip. To Mrs. Ida Minton, however, the highway has no terrors. She enjoys the unique distinction of being probably the only female mail carrier in Uncle Sam's service who rides horseback fearlessly through the forests with her pouch which contains the missives which are only means of communication with the world at large by the residents of Andersonville. She is a typical Kentucky mountain girl, active, strong, fearless and very intelligent. She is an excellent horsewoman. No animal is too high spirited for her, nor does she need help in mounting and dismounting. With the mail pouch thrown, across the pommel of her saddle she rides fearlessly along the lonely highway, and it is safe to say that any one interfering with Uncle Sam's mail would have to be a better and quicker shot than ordinary man or very well mounted to stop the mail. Mrs. Milton has been married two years. It was from her own inclination to help earn money that she took the contract to carry the mail for three years. She has now completed eight months of her contract. The accompanying photograph was taken especially for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Courtesy of David C. Young, Maine author of genealogical publications PO Box 152, Danville, Maine 04223 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ************************************************************************