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The Pony Express Rides Again

NPR
Published February 16, 2015 at 1:33 PM EST
The Hashknife Pony Express travels from Holbrook to Scottsdale every year, with thousands of letters. Above, first-time rider Walter Pacheco (right) rests in a Payson parking lot. (Stina Sieg/KJZZ)
The Hashknife Pony Express travels from Holbrook to Scottsdale every year, with thousands of letters. Above, first-time rider Walter Pacheco (right) rests in a Payson parking lot. (Stina Sieg/KJZZ)

The Pony Express was only in existence for about a year and a half during the 1860s, but the horse-powered mail delivery system has become one of the most enduring symbols of the Wild West.

For most people, cowboys riding hundreds of miles with sacks of letters is the stuff of legend. But as Stina Sieg of Here & Now contributor KJZZ explains, in Arizona, it’s very real – at least for a few days each year.

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