FROM: Larry Carpenter, California NPEA
PST
The 2016 Pony Express Ride Departure Ceremony in Pony Express Plaza, 2nd and J Streets, Old Sacramento, began On-Time at 9:30 AM.
California Division President Elizabeth Davis introduced a series of Speakers who told a group of 50 plus of the National Pony Express Association, the Pony Express, and the role the State Parks Department, and the National Park Service play in preserving Pony Express History and sites and the Trail. The event took place in the shadow of Holland’s Pony Rider Monument across the street from the B.F. Hastings Building, that in 1860 housed the Pony Express Agency. Within sight just a block west was the waterfront where the New World, and The Antelope transported the mail to and from Sacramento, to San Francisco, in 1860-1861.
Phil Sexton, representing the Capital District State Museums and Historic Parks, brought greetings and explained the historic significance of Old Sacramento to the Gold Rush and Pony Express eras. Aaron Mahr, Superintendent, Long Distance Trails Office, Intermountain Region, National Park Service, Santa Fe, talked of the significance of the Pony Express National Historic Trail, and the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service. Lyle Ladner, President, National Pony Express Association, gave an overview of the 2016 Re-ride over the next 10 days, and Administered the Pony Express Oath to the first Rider, Sara Miller. She Departed Pony Express Plaza before Schedule with an Escort of two Riders.
Good attendance at the Ceremony of NPEA Members the public and Press. We had three television stations and the local Press there.
Good Weather for today’s Ride, temperature in the 70’s, good for the horses and Riders. Sara’s Ride was a glorious one, a short one, but she was the first of some 600 who will transport the mochila to Missouri. It will travel from the Sacramento River to the Missouri River in 10 days, 24-hours a day.
Long Live the Pony Express!