Pony Express redux

'"Racing against time and the telegraph and out there on lonely trails were Pony Express riders, the boys who carried the mail,'" said Larry McPherson, Nevada Division president of the Pony Express Association, reciting a poem written by an anonymous author from long ago. "Now we want to keep the spirit of the Pony Express alive."

Rain, sleet and snow never stopped these mail carriers. But the telegraph did.

The Pony Express rode again through Genoa on Tuesday. Although the horse-powered mail service ended in 1861, history came alive as two red-shirt, black-hat and yellow-scarf wearing riders exchanged horses on Main Street in front of the Genoa Courthouse Museum.

The stop was one of hundreds made during this annual Pony Express re-enactment ride from St. Joseph, Mo. to Sacramento that takes 10 days and covers 1,966 miles along many original Pony Express trails and wagon roads.

The commemorative re-ride, which marks the 145th anniversary of the legendary mail service, was part of Pony Express and Snowshoe Thompson Education Day. The event, which was celebrated by more than 100 visitors at the museum, was sponsored by the Douglas County Historical Society.

Mike Murphy of Gardnerville waved to the crowd that gathered in front of the museum as he rode atop Two D, a chestnut-colored quarterhorse. The horse and rider had just completed a 3.6-mile trek south along Jacks Valley Road to the museum, where Marvin Davis and his white Missouri Foxtrotter named Spirit were waiting to take the letter carrying leather mochilla off Murphy's horse and proceed with it up to Old Kingsbury Grade. A rider was expected to carry the mochilla into Stateline three hours later.

"This re-enactment allows us to show the heritage and history of the Pony Express," said Murphy, participating in the ride for the second year in a row. "People waved and gave me the thumbs up along the way. A tour bus stopped and people got out and took pictures. It was a great ride."

Dave Sanner, the National Pony Express Association president from Blue Rapids, Kan., was monitoring the nearly 550 volunteer riders and their horses along the eight-state journey.

"The Pony Express lasted only 18 months (1860-61), but it remains a romantic part of our country's history," said Sanner, adding that this year's re-ride included riders ages 14 to 84 as well as 40 percent women.

The original Pony Express consisted of approximately 200 males ages 11 to 45. They often escaped Indian attacks. Only one rider was killed while delivering the mail.

Sue Smith, special events committee chairwoman for the Douglas County Historical Society, said the event at the museum took place to honor the historical significance Genoa played as the last stop in Nevada before riders hauled the mail up the mountain into California. Her husband, John, an amateur radio operator, monitored the progress of the riders from Carson City to Genoa.

"We had a terrific turnout today to see history in Genoa," said Smith, adding that the only special Pony Express event that took place during the re-enactment in the state was in Genoa. Pony Express and Snowshoe Thompson Day was a way to teach history to our kids."

Dale Ryan, past president of the National Pony Express Association, said Genoa served as an exchange station where riders could get a fresh mount. The exchange station was once located across Main Street from the courthouse.

"The station keeper would take care of the horses and make sure they were well fed," Ryan said. "As many as 80 riders in a year would pass through Genoa heading east or west. From here they would go through Woodfords and into California before Kingsbury Grade was completed in 1860."

McPherson, proudly wearing a replica of a Pony Express rider's uniform, said that delivering mail was a lonely life and many riders were orphans. Most were physically small and even while carrying mail, revolver, knife, hardtack biscuits and canteen still weighed less than a combined 175 pounds.

"Riders changed mounts about every 10-15 miles and often rode 75 to 100 miles each day," McPherson said. "They were tough and excellent horsemen. They didn't want to fight Indians. They wanted to outrun them. They rode healthy grain-fed horses that were faster than the Indians' grass-fed horses."

Despite their faster horses, a few riders continued delivering mail while riding with arrows piercing their extremities.

"These young guys were definitely tough," McPherson said. "They were paid well Š $100 a month. That was very good money in 1860."

He added that a copy of President Abraham Lincoln's 1861 Inaugural Address was delivered by Pony Express riders from Missouri to California in just eight days.

During the Pony Express' 18 months of operation before it was replaced by the telegraph, it suffered only one fatality. When one rider on a Nevada trail failed to show up at his exchange station, several people searched the trail for him. When they finally found him and his horse dead, he was surrounded by six dead Indians.

"Our re-rides are much safer," McPherson laughed.

The Nevada Division president said another re-ride is planned for next summer. The first re-ride took place in 1960 with 135 riders traveling east from Sacramento to St. Joseph.

"Some of those guys from that first commemorative ride are going to be in this year's ride," he said. "None of them want the Pony Express' accomplishments to fade into history."