A Local Legacy
If you thought the pony express was a thing of the past, think again. Did you know you can still have mail delivered by horses? Arizona has the only pony express that still delivers mail for the U.S. Postal Service. The Hashknife Pony Express makes its ride every January during the Parada del Sol festival, traveling 200 miles from Holbrook, Arizona, to Scottsdale, Arizona, and delivering 20,000 first-class letters by horseback. The ride is led by the Navajo County Hashknife Sheriff's Posse, which was organized as a search-and-rescue group in 1955. More than two dozen riders in authentic cowboy clothing carry the mail, relaying the bags along the route. As the word has spread about the ride, public participation has increased, with many letters arriving in the Holbrook Post Office the week before the ride, marked "via Pony Express." Each letter is stamped with a special mark, or cachet. The arrival of the Hashknife Pony Express in Scottsdale kicks off the annual Parada del Sol.
Let's face it, rural deliveries have been phased out more and more over the last 15 years and folks often have to drive a hundred miles to get their mail. Well, they solved the problem out in Arizona, and the mail still gets through. And riders can expect cordial greetings, a warm cup of coffee, from grateful folks stuck out in the deserts and hills of northern Arizona. A forgotten time, not forgotten, by decent people who live in the parts of America, passed over by SJW mental sickness and Satanism.
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| Cold or hot, the only mail really still delivered by horseback. |
