Ponies and their riders go through Lake Tahoe during 2,000 mile 46th annual Pony Express Re-ride
Submitted by paula on Sat, 06/29/2024 - 5:25pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The 2024 Pony Express Re-ride has concluded after riders rode into Old Sacramento on Thursday, June 27 at 4:30 p.m. The journey was just as the original riders did from 1860-1861, 10 days and almost 2,000 miles to deliver mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. They delivered thousands of letters using 700 riders who traveled the sometimes treacherous route. Places popped up over the plains to keep fresh horses and provided places for replacement riders to sleep.
One such place remains at Lake Tahoe, Friday's Station located next to Bally's Lake Tahoe on U.S. 50. The main road at the time was actually on the back side of the current casino, and when driving on the highway people see what would have been the back of the station.
The Pony Express is synonymous with the "Old West." In the era before easy mass communication, the Pony Express was the thread that tied East to West, and in 2024 it connected communities who came out to watch the riders go by with their ponies and acted as volunteer teams with logistics and ham radios.
On Wednesday, June 26, the team of riders came into South Lake Tahoe after navigating the trail near Kingsbury Grade, riding by the original Friday's Station in Stateline, in front of the Pony Express statue at Harrah's Tahoe, and out Pioneer Trail to the old trails that went over what is now known as Echo Summit.
On the ponies for the entire route was a mochila, a mailbag that held the letters back in 1860 and again in 2024. The public could have mailed a letter that traveled the distance in the mochila.
Leaving the state line on horseback with the mochila were Jerry Bestpitch of Elverta, Calif., and Andy Harris of Camino, Calif. They traveled down Pioneer Trail to Golden Bear Trail where they passed off the mochila to Alexis Rauchfuss on Roxy, and Dave Preszler on Peaches who are all from Shingle Springs, Calif. They headed out to Meyers for the next exchange as Jerry and Andy rested a bit before their next section of riding in the middle of the night near Ice House Reservoir.
It was the Pony Express National President Pam Dixon-Simmons who galloped into Old Sacramento at the end of the re-ride a few minutes ahead of schedule after the hundreds of riders took part on the 10-day trip.