{"id":375818,"date":"2026-06-26T13:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/375818\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T13:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:31:11","slug":"riders-finish-annual-pony-express-relay-in-old-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/375818\/","title":{"rendered":"Riders finish annual Pony Express relay in Old Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

In their uniform of yellow bandana, red shirt and brown vest, Pony Express riders turned Old Sacramento briefly into the Old West as they rode into town Thursday for the conclusion of a celebrated mail delivery.<\/p>\n

The Pony Express National Re-Ride ended its nearly 2,000 mile trek from St. Joseph, Missouri to the Pony Express statue on 2nd and J streets. The 10-day journey drew hundreds of participants as the relay of horseback riders switched off every 10 miles just as the original Pony Express riders did.<\/p>\n

The 10 days are a recreation of the traditional route of the Pony Express private mail service that operated for 18 months during 1860 and 1861. The Pony Express is remembered for its speed of its service, its 24-hour relay of riders, and as the fastest route of communication between the East and West until the arrival of the intercontinental telegraph.<\/p>\n

\"Fred Fred Leslie, president of the National Pony Express Association, closes a cantina on a saddle after riders arrived in Old Sacramento \u2014 their last stop of the annual ten-day Pony Express re-ride across the United States \u2014 on Thursday, June 25, 2026. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

The ride is organized by the National Pony Express Association<\/a>, which this year, consisted of approximately 700 riders following a route that stretched across eight states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and California.<\/p>\n

\"After After arriving by horseback during the National Pony Express Association\u2019s re-ride across the United States on Thursday, June 25, 2026, mail is stamped in Old Sacramento. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

At each stop, riders handed off 1,570 real letters to the next rider. The mail, just as it was back then, was carried in a specialized leather mailbag, or mochila, with lockable pockets called cantinas, according to the National Pony Express Association. The mochila was designed to be quickly thrown over the saddle of the next galloping rider as the mail delivery continued its route.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s mail was hand-stamped upon delivery.<\/p>\n

The annual Re-Ride travels east in odd-numbered years and west in even-numbered years. In 2027, riders will depart from Old Sacramento and end in Missouri.<\/p>\n

\"Various Various pins are showcased on National Pony Express Association member Pam Dixon-Simons\u2019 vest on Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Old Sacramento \u2014 the last stop of the group’s annual ten-day ride across the United States reenacting the historic Pony Express. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com \"Spectators Spectators watch Fred Leslie, president of the National Pony Express Association, unload mail from a saddle after riders arrived at their last stop of the associations annual ten-day re-ride across the United States in Old Sacramento on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The ride follows the historic route of the Pony Express. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com \"Fred Fred Leslie, president of the National Pony Express Association, unlocks a cantina on a saddle to reveal mail that was carried during the riders ten-day trip across the United States in Old Sacramento on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The riders reenact the ride every year in celebration of the historical Pony Express. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com
\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their uniform of yellow bandana, red shirt and brown vest, Pony Express riders turned Old Sacramento briefly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-375818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}