Old West comes through Carson City during Pony Express re-ride Wednesday
UPDATE WEDNESDAY 11:20 AM: A Pony Express rider arrived at 2nd and Curry street more than an hour ahead of schedule with the Carson City mail exchange now having been made.
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UPDATE WEDNESDAY: The Pony Express re-ride is running around an hour ahead of schedule, organizers say. The exchange at 2nd and Curry streets in Carson City is expected to happened at around 11:30 a.m.
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Imagine the year 1860 with vast wilderness and wide-open plains between Missouri and California. You're one of the chosen riders on top of a horse with a mochila strapped on your saddle, navigating along the trail where unknown dangers lay ahead.
You're not on leisure trip, you're one of a team of young men traveling 1,966 miles in 10 days on horseback, delivering mail to and from the West.
Even though the Pony Express lasted just 18 months (having been replaced by the transcontinental telegraph line which start just ten weeks after the Pony Express started), the lore and legend lives on.
The National Pony Express Association recreates the infamous ride every year, sending hundreds of riders along the same trail, 24-hours-a-day each June. The riders also carry a mochila, delivering one thousand letters along their way.
On June 5, 2017, a rider left St. Joseph, Missouri at 3:30 p.m. A series of 750 riders will ride a portion of the Pony Express Trail. A rider will come through Carson City via Fort Churchill, arriving at 2nd and Curry streets Wednesday, June 14 at approximately 11:30 a.m.
The rider from Carson City will then head to Stateline at Lake Tahoe along Highway 50, will get off their horse and be replaced by another who will take their horse along Pioneer Trail toward Placerville.
You can follow the ride here: http://nationalponyexpress.org/annual-re-ride/follow-the-ride/
The stopover is a great way to watch the progress as they make their way through Carson City to Lake Tahoe and then into California.