PONY EXPRESS RIDES AGAIN

June 11, 2007

Departs Patee House at 10:00 am!

The National Pony Express Association will once again conduct a Re-Ride of the Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, June 11 to 21, 2007.

This re-ride will be a 10-day, 24-hour a day, non-stop event by over 500 riders and horses. The 1,966 mile route will be over the Pony Express National Historic Trail from Missouri through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to California. It is the longest event held annually on a historical trail in the nation, even surpassing the famed Iditarod.

The event commemorates the Pony Express of 1860-1861. The Central Overland and California Pikes Peak Express Company carried letters and telegrams for 19 months to prove the Central Route through Salt Lake passable year round. The owners hoped to win a federal mail contract on that route. Pony Express history is preserved in the federally designated Historic Trail, administered by the National Park Service, in museums, Pony Rider monuments, books, and the annual re-creations by the NPEA.

Riders will carry Commemorative Letters in a mochila, pony express style. The cachets, honoring Pony Express history, will be available for purchase by NPEA members, historians, and philatelists. The envelopes will show they were carried by the Pony Express and the first class postage will have a special US Postal service cancellation. Only the number of letters purchased will be carried.

Information taken from:  http://www.xphomestation.com/2007-reride.html

posted June 7, 2007 pk