Pony Express ReRide comes through South Lake Tahoe Wednesday

Even though the Pony Express was in operation for only 18 months between April 1860 and October 1861, it is synonymous with the Old West. In the era before easy mass communication, the Pony Express was the thread that tied East to West.

That bit of history is still reenacted each year during the Pony Express ReRide which takes riders and their horses almost 2,000 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, Calif.

This year, being an "even" year, the riders have taken off in St. Joseph (on "odd" years they take off from Sacramento). They have already been through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and, as of Friday, Wyoming. The reride enters Nevada on Monday, then through South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, June 26 before ending in Old Town Sacramento on June 27.

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.

For South Lake Tahoe, the rider will be coming down the original Kingsbury Grade after leaving Genoa, heading to US50, and following a Douglas County Sheriff's escort to the Nevada/California state line by Harrahs 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.

If planning to watch the rider arrive in South Lake Tahoe, follow the GPS tracker page to check their status as they may run ahead, or behind, schedule.