In June 550 riders will reenact the 1,966 mile journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. These events have taken place since 1980, but this one will be a bit different. Because of the sesquicentennial, this year's relay will occur only during daylight.
The Pony Express route began in St. Joseph, Missouri and ended in Sacramento, riders carried a satchel of mail for roughly 10 miles, the trip took about 10 days--astonishingly quick for its time.
Were it not for that great American, Buffalo Bill Cody, the express would have been forgotten, he incorporated a Pony Express reenactment in his Wild West show. Although not all historians agree with Cody's claim, Buffalo Bill said he was a Pony Express rider.
Californians heard about the other historic events of 1860--the election of Abraham Lincoln, the secession of South Carolina, as well as the news of the outbreak of Civil War in 1861--by way of the Pony Express.
The 2010 Pony Express party begins on June 6 and concludes on June 22.
Related posts:
July 4, 1882: Buffalo Bill Cody and the birth of the rodeo
Runner finds undiscovered Oregon Trail remnant
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny--The Trail of Tears
My Kansas Kronikles: Wagon ruts
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pony express 
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