Wyoming’s Pony Express Is Still Riding

The original Pony express riders may be long gone, but a group of Wyoming riders carry on the tradition to this day. Click this link to visit their website.

Stephanie Goulart is a member of the Pony Express riders, a  group that has been ridding the old trail for 15 years, though doing it a bit slower than the original ridders.

“We have 25 riders,” Goulart said before the ride. “I think we’re expecting maybe six riders. We have collection boxes on all the post offices in Goshen and Platte County. The people will deposit their Valentines into those boxes and we collect the boxes and we stamp the letters with the stamp that says, ‘carried horseback.’ And then we gather here and throw mail on everybody and carry it from here to Hartville.” (Platt County Record Times)

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They ride the Goshen County trail for Valentines. That section is from Guernsey to Hartville. They also deliver Christmas cards on a trail that goes from Guernsey to Ft. Laramie.

Imagine getting a letter delivered to your door by somebody from today's Pony Express. There is actually a way that you can if you live in the right area. One example is their upcoming event in Wheatland Wyoming. They have set up a delivery with the Wheatland Country Store, Artery said. Just bring a letter and they will mark it with the stamp of the Pony Express and then deliver it in the city limits of Wheatland.

Today's Pony Express is a national organization and this is the southeast organization for Wyoming. The second week in June all the Pony Express riders plan to gather in St. Louis and ride the old Pony Express trail all the way to San Francisco. The question will be about obstacles along the way. Much has changed. Roads, buildings, and new land owners with new fences to name a few problems.

Part of the original rout goes through Glendo Wyoming. They will start at 4 a.m. and ride from Glendo to Lyman, Nebraska, which is about 80 miles. They plan to ride with the same speed that Pony Express riders travel at with the exception of going through towns.

In 1860 Platte County Wyoming Pony Express riders carried mail from Guernsey to Hartville in all sorts of weather, and it only took them two hours to do it. Ridders like Buffalo Bill Cody risked their lives to get what little mail they had in their pouches.

The Pony Express only lasted 18 months, but what they did became legendary.