Re-ride celebrates 148 years

by Sharlene Irete

People Editor

The history and future of the Pony Express are the subjects of the Douglas County Historical Society's free lecture series, 7 p.m. Thursday, at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center in Gardnerville.

Larry McPherson, past president of the National Pony Express Association and a participant in the re-ride to commemorate the 148th anniversary of the founding of the Pony Express, will tell the story of the Pony Express "from the beginning up to now."

"You can tell stories about the Pony Express for hours," said McPherson. "For so many years people didn't know about the re-ride and I'm trying to get people to know about this."

His lecture at the museum is just one way McPherson is trying to tell the tale of the Pony Express, a company founded by a freighting firm in 1860 to carry letters and telegrams between San Francisco and St. Joseph, Mo. He said more people could be made aware of this important part of the history of the West if a movie was made on the subject.

"I've been trying to get a movie about the Pony Express made for years," he said. "But it takes a lot of money " from $500,000 to $800,000 " to get it done."

In the lecture, McPherson will talk about how the Pony Express started and who was involved in it.

"Most people are surprised that the riders covered 1,966 miles in 10 days," he said. "It ran from 1860 to 1861 " only 18 months. The telegraph put an end to the Pony Express. The last day was Oct. 24, 1861, and then it went out of business.

"In Pony Express days, the riders were jockeys and farmers, not cowboys. The maximum weight was 170 pounds for rider, saddle and mail. The ad wanted 'young skinny guys not over 18. Experienced riders. Orphans preferred.' They made $24 a week which was good money in those days."

This year's Pony Express Re-ride begins June 18 in Old Sacramento and ends in St. Joseph. McPherson will carry a proclamation into Genoa at about 9 a.m. June 19, which has been designated by Gov. Gibbons as Pony Express Day.

McPherson has been participating in the Pony Express re-ride for about 10 years and plans to continue in the yearly event.

"Why not?" said McPherson, 77. "I'll do it as long as I can crawl into the saddle. Age is a state of mind, although your body doesn't always agree with that."

McPherson will ride two legs of the Pony Express re-ride " from Sand Springs to Cold Springs, Nev., on his Spanish-Arabian horse Sundown and out of Fort Churchill on Cheyenne, a Tennessee Walker. He will ride the Sand Springs leg at night.

"We try to schedule the annual re-ride during a full moon, but horses have good eyesight so the riders can ride by the light of the stars," he said. "The riders have to average 8 mph to keep to the schedule so some places you have to do more than that."

Whether bad winter leaves the trails in bad shape or if a rider takes a wrong turn, they try to keep the re-ride on schedule.

"We're trying to put on a good show," McPherson said.

The National Pony Express Re-ride schedule can be found at xphomestation.com.

The free lecture series is sponsored by the Douglas County Historical Society at 7 p.m. the second Thursday of the month.

The museum and bookstore are open before and after the one-hour lecture. Information, 782-2555.