Another item of interest which gives our little Northeast Arizona community some of its Old West charm is an annual event, the Pony Express ride. A group of cowboys have an organization that formed in the 1800's called the Hashknife Sherrif's Posse. These good old boys have been getting together for a variety of reasons for years under the name of Hashknife, with some loosely knit reasons for having a "good time", but that is beside the point.
The Hashknife riders gather at the beginning of February every year to carry sachels of mail on horse back from our Holbrook Post office. They make a 200 mile trek over rough terrain, in rough weather down to the Post office in Phoenix for mail distribution throughout the nation.
The riders also participate in a parade in Scottsdale, the Parada del Sol, more local charm in which Holbrook gets to share. It is a colorful historic tradition to have mail carried on horseback, the riders reliving some of the conditions of riders in the old west who transported mail across our nation. There are people who make it a tradition to send mail from many places across the nation to our little town so it can be postmarked with the pony express stamp, and also
rubbed with a little seasoned leather and horse aroma before it is sent on its way to special destinations.
Here are some photos of Hashknife treks taken from other years and a couple of artistic portrayals of the Pony Express.
No comments:
Post a Comment