Riders, history buffs, and communities along the old Pony Express Trail recently celebrated the 2026 National Pony Express Re-Ride, a special event coinciding with the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebration, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum said in a press release.
“The Pony Express operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861,” Dick Blust from the museum explained. “Lone riders working in relays carried mail both ways from St. Joseph, Missouri, across Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to Sacramento, California; a dangerous trip of nearly 2,000 miles in an average of 10 days. One hundred and fifty-seven relay stations were established across the country, including one very near present-day Farson and another at Granger. During its brief life, the Pony Express carried about 35,000 pieces of mail.”
The National Pony Express Association, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization founded in 1977, recreates the Pony Express ride over the route’s entire length with volunteer riders and their horses. Over 700 riders and their mounts take part. The riders carry specially-commissioned and stamped commemorative letters.
This year’s re-ride officially opened on Monday, June 15, with the first rider departing from the Patee House in St. Joseph, Missouri, headed west. It passed through Sweetwater County on Saturday, June 20, arriving at the exchange station in Farson at 3:51 p.m. and the exchange station near Granger at 9:30 p.m. The public was invited to the Farson Mercantile parking lot in Farson and the Granger stage station to witness the ride and meet the riders and their mounts.
The re-ride ultimately arrived in Sacramento, California, on the afternoon of June 25.
For more information about the National Pony Express Association, the Pony Express, and the 2026 Re-Ride, go to the NPEA website at nationalponyexpress.org.