Pony Express re-enactment a draw for town of Oak
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By ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star
When the Pony Express rider passes near Oak in northern Nuckolls County at 5:30 a.m. Friday — give or take an hour or two — a good portion of the town’s 60 or so residents may be up to say welcome.
Between two and three dozen people usually show up to witness the annual re-enactment of the nearly 2,000-mile ride over the Pony Express National Historic Trail from Missouri to California.
Jean Stichka, a longtime Oak resident and office manager of the Nuckolls County Extension Service, said it’s a pretty big deal for Oak, known as the “Hub of the Oregon Trail.”
A Global Positioning System would have come in handy for Pony Express riders on the nearly 2,000-mile route from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., a century and a half ago.
And while technology helped spell the end of the original mail delivery service in 1861, the latest high-tech advances now are helping re-create the journey.
Horseback riders are equipped with a GPS tracking device this year as they carry the famed leather mail pouch through eight states — including Nebraska — as part of the annual Pony Express Re-ride.
“It’s low-tech transportation with high-tech coverage,” said Larry Carpenter, national secretary of the National Pony Express Association.
To check the whereabouts of this year’s riders, via GPS, go to: http://ponyexpressnationaltracking.com/RiderTracking.html.
Source: The Associated Press
Stichka said the area in south-central Nebraska is rich in pioneer history — it was the site of an 1864 massacre — and there are quite a few history buffs around the area.
Two weeks ago, the town put up a Pony Express marker in the city park. And every four years, Oak celebrates Oregon Trail Days. The next one is in August 2009.
Almost a century and a half ago, Pony Express riders stopped near Oak for fresh horses and maybe some food and water.
“It (Oak) was the closest place to where they used to ride through,” Stichka said. “A lot of them (the stops) were in fields.”
This year marks the 148th anniversary of the Pony Express, a private mail service that carried letters and telegrams from April 1860 to October 1861 using a network of horseback riders and relay stations.
The founders of the Pony Express sought to establish their service as a faster and more reliable way to move the mail in hopes of winning a federal mail contract. At the time, it was the fastest way of getting mail across the country. The telegraph eventually lessened the need for express mail.
Each year, the National Pony Express Association commemorates the historic mail service with a 10-day, non-stop event called a re-ride. Organizers often switch directions.
More than 500 riders and horses are participating in the 2008 re-ride, which began in Sacramento, Calif., on June 18. The final rider is expected to arrive in St. Joseph, Mo., on Saturday.
If all goes according to schedule, a Pony Express rider will cross the Wyoming/Nebraska state line near Torrington, Wyo., at 5 a.m. MDT on Wednesday and head to Chimney Rock. The route takes riders south to Bridgeport, Mud Springs, Sidney and Julesburg, Colo., for a barbecue before swinging northeast back into Nebraska. Other communities in Nebraska close to the re-ride include: Big Springs, Paxton, North Platte, Brady, Midway, Cozad, Plum Creek, Kearney and Oak.
Fort Kearny State Historical Park, near Kearney, is expecting a rider to arrive around 7 p.m. Thursday, said office manager Laura Rose. She said that’s good because park visitors will be able to see the rider change horses during a 30-minute stop.
Last year, a rider came through around 1 a.m., and the only person to greet the rider was park superintendent Gene Hunt, Rose said. About two dozen people usually show up to see a rider pass through.
Riders usually wear a brown jacket with a Pony Express patch on the back, a hat, yellow bandanna and jeans, Rose said.
Riders also will have a “mochila,” a distinctive mail pouch made famous by the original riders. The leather pouch will be filled with commemorative letters marked with a special U.S. Postal service cancellation.
Although Stichka has an interest in the Pony Express re-ride, she won’t be standing in the crowd to watch the rider come into Oak.
“I don’t go downtown because they go right by my house,” she said.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at (402) 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
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