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Pony Express rides Thursday

Posted 2/6/18

When the Pony Express rides into Fountain Hills on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 8, it will be the 60th trip the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Hashknife Posse has made with the mail between Holbrook …

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Pony Express rides Thursday

Posted

When the Pony Express rides into Fountain Hills on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 8, it will be the 60th trip the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Hashknife Posse has made with the mail between Holbrook and Scottsdale.

The Express riders will make their dash up the Avenue of the Fountains between Saguaro Boulevard and the Post Office at about 3 p.m. on Thursday.

The posse was organized in 1957 with the Hashknife brand that originated in Texas. It was organized as a search and rescue posse and proved itself many times saving lives in the harsh Northern Arizona winters.

The annual 200-mile ride down the mountain from Holbrook exemplifies the challenges the posse members face in executing their regular duties.

The ride begins in Holbrook and across the plain to Heber and down off the Rim into Payson with a side trip to Pine. After an overnight in Payson, the riders continue down State Route 87 through Rye, Sunflower and into Fountain Hills.

Fountain Hills did not become a regular stop on the route until the larger Post Office was built after the town incorporated.

After delivery to the Fountain Hills Post Office the team camps overnight along the Verde River at the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Following a hearty breakfast on Friday morning, the posse members saddle up for the final leg of the trip to the Museum of the West in Scottsdale at 2nd Street and Marshall Way.

Saturday, the riders and horses participate in the annual Parada Del Sol Parade.

The original Pony Express was organized in 1860 to carry mail on horseback as quickly as possible over the 2,000 miles between St. Joseph, Mo. and Sacramento, Calif. It operated only a scant 18 months before it was displaced by the railroads and telegraph. But even in that short time the Pony Express provided an indelible image for the American West.

The original Pony Express riders never set hoof in Arizona, but the modern riders pay homage to the 19th Century program with the only mail carried over any distance on horseback today.