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When word of the Pony Express being formed reached Clay Roswell in Texas, he decided to get a job as a rider. He was told his best chance for such a job was along the desert stretch in Nevada Territory, so that was where he headed. Along the trail, he met two brothers, Jess and Hoke Pickard, and agreed to team up with them, at least as far as Salt Lake. They made camp one night in Weber Cañon, east of Salt Lake, but as Roswell lay in his blankets, the Pickards tried to club him to death. They stole his money and his horses, and left him for dead.