History rides into Carson City Thursday

Witness living history in motion Thursday afternoon as the Pony Express gallops into the state capital for the commemorative hand-off of the mail-bearing Mochila.

The annual Pony Express Re-ride, organized and conducted by the National Pony Express Association (NPEA), began today in Sacramento, California.

Just as it was done in 1860, the mail travels constantly -- all day and all night, stopping only to change mounts and/or riders -- in order to complete the entire 1,966-mile original Pony Expess route to St. Joseph, Missouri, in ten days.

Petra Keller, membership chair of the NPEA Nevada Division, said the Mochila, a leather carrier featuring four mail pouches and fits over the saddle like a blanket, is equipped with a GPS tracking device, so its movements along the route can be followed online here.

The re-ride is scheduled to end in St. Joseph on the afternoon of June 25.

The eastbound route -- across the Sierra Nevada, through the Great Basin and Salt Flats, over the Rocky Mountains, and onto prairies of the Great Plains -- will involve around 700 riders.

"We break it down by state," she said. "Each state on the route has a division, and each state is responsbile for carrying the Mochila across the state."

Crossing Nevada will require covering 435 miles and take about 60 hours before the mail is handed off to Utah riders at Ibapah on June 18 at 9 p.m., Keller said.

The Mochila is exchanged about every one to 20 miles when either a rider changes mounts, or the mail is transferred to an entirely new horse and rider team.

This year's exchange in Carson City occurs Thursday at 2 p.m. at the corner of Curry and Second streets. The exchange ceremony is hosted by Eagle Mountain Trading Post, site of the mochila transfer.

The building occupied by Eagle Mountain Trading Post is an historic structure built in the 1860, the same year the Pony Express was born.

The structure once was the site of a livery, freight depot, and Overland Stage stop, Eagle Mountain Trading Post owner Toni Thompson said.

"Eagle Mountain Trading Post was selected for the hand-off location because of the building's 150-year-old history," she said. "It is our honor that Eagle Mountain Trading Post has been selected by the Nevada Division of the Pony Express as the location for this year's Re-Ride hand-off in Carson City."

Thompson said that because the mochila might either be ahead of schedule or late, Eagle Mountain Trading Post is hosting a two-hour event in honor of the Carson City exchange point.

"We will have guests dressed in western wear, music and merriment to entertain while we watch for their arrival," she said. "The handoff itself is a brisk couple of seconds of excitement!"

Nevada Pony Express Riders take the Mochila at Woodfords, California, Thursday morning on their way to Carson City.

There will be one stop at Mormon Station in Genoa to honor this year's Mochila sponsor, Squeeze In, Keller said.

Other nearby exchange points include Dayton and Ft. Churchill, site of an original Pony Express Station. The Battle Born Civil War Reenactors will be present at Ft. Churchill serving refreshments.

Keller said a new Mochila is made each year by the hosting state. Nevada is the event host this year.

About 900 letters are being carried in the Mochila this year from Sacramento to St. Joseph, Keller said.

"We actually carry mail in the Mochila," she said. "It gets packed up and goes the entire 1,966 miles to the endpoint, then is transferred to regular mail service delivery."

Keller said the original Pony Express operated just 19 months, from April 1860 to November 1861. Congress added the Pony Express Trail to the National Historic Trail System in 1992, she said.

The NPEA was organized in 1978 and has been dedicated to the preservation and education of the Pony Express, its history and all points along its national mail route, the organization's web site states.

The NPEA operates in cooperation with the National Parks Service, which manages the Pony Express Trail, the NPEA web site states.