Annual Pony Express re-ride to make stops today at Fort Churchill, Carson City, Genoa and Tahoe
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 06/25/2024 - 11:14am
The annual Pony Express Re-ride, a re-enactment of the original Pony Express Route that spanned nearly 2,000 miles passing through what are now seven western states, returns to the Carson City area on Wednesday, June 26.
Organized and produced by the National Pony Express Association, the re-ride runs the full 1,966 miles between Sacramento, Calif., and St. Joseph, Missouri.
Rider and mochila, the saddle-mounted mail pouch, are scheduled to be arriving Wednesday at Fort Churchill in Lyon County at 7:45 a.m., then on through Dayton, Mound House, to Carson City down US-50 West from Arrowhead with an exchange at Benson's Feed at around noon and then an exchange from Section 2 to Section 1 at 2nd & Curry at around 12:30 p.m. where the next rider will then ride down S. Carson Street in front of the Capitol buildings to the roundabout, where we will get back on S. Curry on our way to Jacks Valley Road.
From Jacks Valley Road the ride will go through Genoa then to Kingsbury Grade after leaving Genoa, heading to US50, and following a Douglas County Sheriff's escort to the Nevada/California state line by Harrahs Lake Tahoe at approximately 5:30 p.m.
There they will exchange the mochila and a new rider and horse will leave to proceed down Pioneer Trail to Echo Summit and points west.
A product of the celebrated American Wild West, young men once rode horses to carry mail from Missouri to California in the unprecedented time of only 10 days. This relay system along the Pony Express National Historic Trail crossing eight states was the most direct and practical means of east-west communications in 1860. Riders could deliver a letter faster than ever before, but sadly the telegraph replaced the system just as it was getting started.
The public can follow the annual event at https://nationalponyexpress.org/re-ride/follow-the-ride/ where a GPS tracker in the mochila (mailbag) updates the rider's location along the way.
