Public invited to witness exchange and participate in free family friendly activities at Folsom History Museum
The National Pony Express is riding the Historic Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento and Historic Folsom is one of its stops this Wednesday, June 7 that the community is invited to come be part of.
The annual re-ride is a 10-day, 24-hour per day event that will travel the Pony Express National Historic Trail, now a component of the National Trail System that is managed by the National Park Service. From California, the mail will travel 1966 miles across California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, to Missouri.
The Pony Express riders and horses will first arrive on Sutter Street at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Folsom History Museum at 823 Sutter St. the incoming rider is expected to gallop up the street at 6:29 p.m. for the ceremonial exchange with the outgoing rider who will head off towards St. Joseph, Missouri, where the run is scheduled to arrive and on June 17 to deliver personal mail and commemorative letters that are carried by mochila along the route, passed from rider to rider along the way.
Wednesday The Folsom History Museum is welcoming the community to come out for the event early. Starting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday the museum will have Pony Express themed crafts activities for families to enjoy as they visit with the waiting rider and wait for the arrival of the rider from Sacramento to gallop up in for the ceremonial exchange.
600 Riders from the eight State Divisions of the Pony Express will ride in Relays of 1-5 miles each, 24 hours a day until the delivery in St Joseph. They will take the Pony Express Oath and receive a Bible prior to riding the next leg with the mochila, which is a leather square with cantinas in each corner holding the mail.
The Re-ride honors the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. It carried letters and telegrams from April 1860 to November 1861 to prove the Central Route through Salt Lake passable year-round in and effort to win a proposed Federal mail contract.
Those interested can pick up a map of the Pony Express route at the Folsom History Museum in the days and hours leading up to the special event.
Updates and information can be found at “nationalponyexpress.org.” and during the Ride on “facebook.com/express rider/.” A GPS Unit in the mochila will transmit real-time location of the mail, and be found at “national ponyexpress.org/annual re-ride/follow the ride/.
