Posted on 06/14/2010 11:04:57 PM PDT by JoeProBono
CALLAO, Utah, Organizers of a re-enactment marking the 150th anniversary of the old Pony Express mail service said in Utah 600 people are riding in this year's event.
The ride stretches from Sacramento to St. Joseph, Mo.
Organizers at the Callao, Utah, station -- one of 165 stations on the route -- said this year's ride has been increased from the traditional 10 days to 20 days to allow for extra celebrations, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.
The Pony Express ran from April 1860 to October 1861.
"People just need to realize that history is what got us to where we are today," said Les Bennington, the National Pony Express Association president. "It would've been the e-mail of the 1860s."
Bennington said riders who volunteer with the association carry $5 commemorative letters -- the same price paid in 1860.
Umm ..... Not quite.
"What cost $5.00 in 1860 would cost $117.97 in 2009."
The Pony Express trail was only about 12 miles north of where our farm was in Eureka, NV. You could still easily make out where the trail was - it required no hard-core tracking skills.
That was pretty rough country in Western Utah when we lived there in the late 80’s. You had to bring supplies in case of vehicle problems.
Yup.
When we lived in central NV, we had a whole lot of stuff in the back of cars (including parts, tools, etc) in the event we were stranded, even on paved roads.
In the old days, old timers described trips to the larger towns in terms of how many extra tires/tubes they took with them. A trip from Eureka to Elko was described as a “two tire trip,” for example. A trip to Delta, UT was a three-tire trip.
A buddy who did a lot of 4WD touring in the area always carried extra tires, clothing and water. He talked about marking intersections with stone cairns so he’d know he’d been through an intersection, and from which direction.
I never attempted it, but I didn’t have a vehicle that would be appropriate at the time. In the 4 years we lived in Utah, I came close to being stranded twice, but fortunately, was able to carry on...
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