ST, JOSEPH MISSOURI — The 155th Anniversary Year of the Founding of the Pony Express will be celebrated by a rerun of the historic mail service, June 15-25, 2015. The National Pony Express Association will conduct the Ride, for the 36th consecutive year.
The first rider departs the Patee House in St Joseph, Missouri, June 15th at 10:00 AM, and the last rider arrives in Pony Express Plaza, in Old Sacramento, California, June 25th at 11 :30 AM. The event will leave Missouri, cross Kansas, Nebraska,-Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, to California, eight states in all.
Riders will take the Pony Express Oath, receive a Commemorative Bible and ride in tum Relays of 1 to 5 miles. In the mochila (a leather square with four cantinas/pockets sewn in each comer) will be Commemorative Letters and personal mail purchased by the public and destined around the world.
The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company carried letters and telegrams on the Central Route through Salt Lake and Placerville, to San Francisco, from April 1860 November 1861. The mail service was a dramatic attempt to prove the Central Route passable year-round to win a federal mail contract. It did not win the contract but it did create a history that became legendary. In 1992, Congress honored its history by adding it to the National Trails System as a Historic Trail, administered by the National Park Service.
Information and updates on the 24-hr, 10-day event will be available from many sources. The Pony Express Home Station, will have coverage including schedules, reports, and photos. Reports will also be found on Facebook (National Pony Express Association). A GPS Unit in the mochila will transmit real-time location of the mochila/mail, and can be followed on “Pony Express Tracker.com.” A Nevada Telephone Hotline 855-782-6949 with recorded reports of rider locations will be available June 22-24, from the Sierra Intermountain Radio Association. Additional information can be obtained by contacting: National Pony Express Association, PO Box 236, Pollock Pines, CA 95726, or 916-332-8382.
Riders are expected to cross the Nebraska/Wyoming State line at 1:30 pm MDT on June 18 and the Wyoming/Utah State at 9 pm MDT on June 20. Stops include Sweetwater Station on June 19; Atlantic City, Farson, Green River Crossing, Granger and Fort Bridger on June 20.
Anyone wishing to see the Pony Express Riders should be aware that they may be anywhere from two hours ahead to two hours behind schedule. A complete [tentative] schedule of the ride can be found here.
