This week, Sacramentans can watch the Pony Express ride again as the last leg of the 44th annual “re-ride” closes out in Old Sacramento.
The commemorative ride retraces the 1,966-mile route of the historic Pony Express, a mail service that operated for 18 months in 1860 and 1861. The relay’s first riders saddled up in St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 6 and the final riders are due to arrive in Pony Express Plaza at 2nd and J streets around 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Followers of the ride can track the relay on the National Pony Express Association’s website, which offers a live tracker of the current rider’s position on the map.
“I think it’s very important that we pass history on to our young people,” said association president, Melva Sanner. “We just continue to try and preserve the trail and promote it to the public to educate them on what the Pony Express did. Even though it was only eighteen months, it was a vital part of communication back then.”
The Pony Express was a private mail service that ran between Sacramento and St. Joseph from April 3, 1860 until the connection of the transcontinental telegraph on Oct. 24, 1861. Mail was relayed using a network of 80 riders, who rode in 75-mile intervals along the trail.
The association began its annual commemorative re-ride in 1978. Today, flag-bearers and supporters follow along the trail as over 700 riders relay the mochila, a leather bag containing letters submitted by followers of the ride.
“It’s kind of funny,” said Rich Tatman, California State NPEA president. “There are three groups that are allowed to carry official mail — the United States Coast Guard, the post office and the national Pony Express.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 12:06 PM.
