Pony Express riders will travel through Kansas again

Wil Day
·2 min read

MARYSVILLE, Kan. (KSNW) — The Pony Express will ride again, at least for 10 days in June.

The Pony Express was an express mail delivery service that traveled between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. It was the most direct means of communication between the East and West Coast during the brief time it operated.

Nearly 200 stations were set up along the route. Depending on the terrain, they were spaced anywhere from 5 to 20 miles apart. At each station, a rider would swap for a fresh horse and could grab a meal.

Between their rides, 25 home stations provided boarding. Typically, riders would travel 75 to 100 miles in a day.

Mail could be delivered in just 10 days when it previously could take months. The expansion of the telegraph led to the end of the Pony Express, which operated for just 18 months between April 1860 and October 1861.

One of its first and best-known riders is buried in Kansas. Johnny Fry enlisted in the army after the company dissolved and died in the only Civil War battle fought in Kansas, the Battle of Baxter Springs.

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Starting June 17, over 700 riders will deliver letters across the country from St. Joseph to Sacramento. Riders will cross into Kansas on US Highway 36, making their way through Atchison and traveling 149 miles before entering Nebraska. From Nebraska, riders will deliver the letters through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and finally to California on June 27.

There will be two opportunities to see the riders in Kansas on June 18. The first is at 9 a.m. at the Marysville Pony Express Barn in Marysville and at 11 a.m. at the Hollenberg Pony Express Station in Hollenberg.

If you can’t make the trip, you can follow the riders as they travel across the country thanks to a GPS tracker that will be carried in the mailbag. An interactive map will be available starting at 3 p.m. on June 17 by clicking here.

For more information about the annual Pony Express Re-Ride, visit the National Pony Express Association website.

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