1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Its legacy is as 5 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: American as baseball and apple pie. It's writers were fast, famous, 6 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: and fearless. It has been the subject of over a 7 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: dozen films and television shows, and it became the foundation 8 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: of one of the largest banks in the world. When 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: it came to speed and reliability in the eighteen sixties, 10 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: you couldn't beat the Pony Express. As California began to 11 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: boom from the Gold Rush, business owners and settlers needed 12 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,639 Speaker 1: a faster way to communicate with folks farther east. At 13 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: the time, letters and packages took roughly twenty five days 14 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: to travel by stagecoach, even longer if going by ship. 15 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: The Pony Express more than half that time, with an 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: average delivery window of about ten days. Not everyone used 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: the Pony Express, though it was really expensive for the 18 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: average person to send a letter at five dollars per 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: half ounces of mail. The service was primarily used as 20 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: a delivery method for newspapers, business correspondents, and government bulletins. 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: Gold Rush hopeful's just couldn't afford the speedy service, and 22 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: speedy it was. Ten days may have been the average 23 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: time it took to deliver a letter, but it certainly 24 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: wasn't the fastest. That record belonged to Robert Haslam. He 25 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: earned the nickname Pony Bob for a very good reason. 26 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: He was responsible for the fastest delivery in Pony Express history. 27 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: Bob had come to the United States from England as 28 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: a teenage major, just as the Pony Express was getting 29 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: up and running. He had gotten his start by building 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: depot stations, but was soon given a route of his own, 31 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: from Lake Tahoe to Buckland Station, a seventy five mile 32 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: stretch of Nevada Territory all his own. In May of 33 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty, with his deliveries in tow, Bob traveled on 34 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: horseback from San Francisco to Buckland Station, where he got 35 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: a taste of a growing war. Not the Civil War, 36 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: mind you, but one that must have seemed equally as terrifying. 37 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: The Pyramid Lake Indian War had found its way to 38 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: Buckland's Station in a bad way. The relief rider, who 39 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: was supposed to carry Bob's mail east to Smith's Creek 40 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: was too scared to ride due to the growing Native 41 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: American threat. Bob couldn't let the letters he had been 42 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: carrying go undelivered. He had a decision to make and quick, 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: or his trip would have been for nothing. So he 44 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: mounted up and kept going one hundred and ninety miles 45 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: on horseback and just under nine hours without rest, and 46 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: he made it. Bob slept all night before traveling back 47 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: to Buckland Station the next day. Once he reached the 48 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: depot at Cold Springs, he noticed the war had finally arrived. 49 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: The station keeper had been killed and everything inside had 50 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: been taken. There was no time to stop. The longer 51 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: he lingered, the more danger he was putting himself in, 52 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: so he just kept going. Three hundred and eighty miles later, 53 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: Pony Bob had done it. He'd completed the longest round 54 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: trip on record for the Pony Express in less than 55 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: two days. Bob Hasslum rode for the Pony Express for 56 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: months following his record breaking journey, but the most important 57 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: ride of his life was still yet to come. In 58 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: April of eighteen sixty one, a very special delivery had 59 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: to get from Fort Kearney in the Nebraska territory, all 60 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: the way to Placerville, California. If it didn't make it, 61 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: the fate of the entire country might be at risk. 62 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: Only one rider was fit to carry such precious cargo, 63 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: pony Bob himself. He picked up the bundle, tucked it 64 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: into his saddle bag, and rode for one hundred twenty miles. 65 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: His route took him through Piute, Indian Territory, and as 66 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,239 Speaker 1: he traveled, he encountered a handful of braves who didn't 67 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: take kindly to him trespassing on their land. One of 68 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: their arrows found its way into his arm, while another 69 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: flew straight into his jaw, knocking out several of his teeth. 70 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: The attack didn't deter him, though, and his horse galloped 71 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: faster until they were out of danger. He made it 72 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: to California in just eight hours and twenty minutes and 73 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: then delivered his package. You see, that precious cargo he'd 74 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: been carrying had been Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address, which was 75 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: to be telegraphed to Sacramento for publication up and down 76 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: the West coast. And if Bob hadn't made it in time, 77 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: California might have chosen to side with a Confederacy at 78 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: the start of the Civil War. What's most interesting about 79 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: the Pony Express isn't the roster of riders like Pony 80 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: Bob Hasslum or Buffalo Bill Cody, nor the blistering speed 81 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: with which mail was delivered across the country. It wasn't 82 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: even the dangerous conditions it's rider's face, like mounting threats 83 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: from the Native Americans or the harsh weather. No, it's 84 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: that this company, which has such an enduring legacy as 85 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: an icon of American industry, only lasted for eighteen months. 86 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: Selling a house can be a real pain between fixing 87 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: it up and staging everything just right. Hooking a potential 88 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: buyer takes a delicate mixture of truth with a little 89 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: bit of fiction. Sometimes the seller needs to drum up 90 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: interest by any means necessary. But not Helen Actley. She 91 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: didn't have this problem. Her house had been the talk 92 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: of the town for quite some time. Helen moved into 93 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: her home in Nyack, New York, in the late nineteen sixties. 94 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: She had been warned of what awaited her. That the 95 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: home came with three other tenants who showed no signs 96 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: of wanting to move out any time soon. She her husband, 97 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: and their four children, George, Kara, William, and Cynthia didn't 98 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: have a problem with that, though, and they lived there 99 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: for years, getting along just fine with their de facto roommates. 100 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: Sometimes one of them would shake Cynthia's bed in the 101 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: morning to rouse her from sleep. Others would give the 102 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: athlete children coins or trinkets that would vanish later, never 103 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,119 Speaker 1: to be seen again. Helen spoke to her neighbors about 104 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: doors slamming and loud footsteps of conversations that carried on 105 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: into the night, keeping them all awake. However, despite these disruptions, 106 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: the family never tried to have their fellow home dwell 107 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: or is evicted. One day, as Helen was painting the 108 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: living room ceiling, one of the older housemates just sat 109 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: and watched her, never saying a word. On a particularly 110 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: eerie night, her son awoke to find another of the 111 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: residents pressed their face right up against his own. Of course, 112 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: people change, they grow, just like the children did before 113 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: moving out into homes of their own, one they didn't 114 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: have to share with three inconsiderate other people, and their 115 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: parents will they grew tired of their current arrangement and 116 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: decided to sell the house in They reached out to 117 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: a local realtor to facilitate the sale. Explaining the odd 118 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: situation regarding the house. People from all over heard about 119 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: the accles and the people who lived with them. Everyone 120 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: knew what buying that home meant for their dreams of 121 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: peace and quiet. Well, everyone except Jeffrey Stambowski. Jeffrey toured 122 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: the home quickly, deciding it would be a good fit. 123 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: He made a down payment and went into contract on 124 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: the house completely unaware of the three other tenants living inside. 125 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: Neither Helen nor the realtor told him about them. By 126 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: the time he learned about their presence, it was too late. 127 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: He tried to rescind the contract and ended up losing 128 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: his down payment. As a result, Mr Strombowski filed a 129 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: lawsuit against Helen Ackley for fraud. In fact, the case 130 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: went all the way to the New York Supreme Court. 131 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: That's because this wasn't just any fraud case, and the 132 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: other tenants weren't your average renters. Mr Strombowski alleged that 133 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: Helen Ackley neglected to disclose the presence of poltergeists in 134 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: her home, which would have lowered its value. They were 135 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: Sir George and his wife, Lady Margaret, who had lived 136 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,679 Speaker 1: in Nyack in the seventeen hundreds, as well as a 137 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,679 Speaker 1: Navy lieutenant who served during the American Revolution. They were 138 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: not the malevolent ghosts of films and television. But Mr 139 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: Strombowski didn't care. He had been made to look like 140 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: a fool, and the court surprisingly agreed with him. It 141 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: didn't matter that the Actlee ghosts were the subject of 142 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: numerous articles in national magazines. It didn't matter that everyone 143 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: in town knew all about the haunted house on Love 144 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: at a Place. According to the New York Supreme Court, 145 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: Mr Strombowski should have been told about the three spirits 146 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: residing in the home. The ruling, officially titled Strembovski versus Actley, 147 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: is now commonly known as the ghostbuster ruling. It states 148 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: that if a home was ever advertised to the public 149 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: as haunted by ghosts, but a potential buyer was unaware 150 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: of it, the contract can be rescinded. Today, the ruling 151 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: is taught in law schools and often printed on contracts 152 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: for new homes in the state of New York. No 153 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: one else has reported any paranormal activity since the Accles 154 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: moved out, Mediums who have made contact with the spirits 155 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 1: have said that they're none too happy with the new 156 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: homeowners and maybe they grew tired of waiting for another 157 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: family like the Accles, or maybe they decided to haunt 158 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: a warmer climate. I say that because after the ruling 159 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: against her, Helen Accley was reported to have said she 160 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: was moving to Florida and taking her ghostly roommates with her. 161 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 162 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 163 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:30,599 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 164 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 165 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 166 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 167 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 168 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.