Hashknife is a name often heard this time of the year with the Hashknife Posse’s annual Pony Express Ride to Scottsdale carrying official U.S. Mail coming up soon. This year’s event will coincide with the release of Hash Knife Around Holbrook by Jan MacKell Collins, published by Arcadia’s Images of America. A PowerPoint presentation and book signing event by Collins is scheduled to follow the Hashknife Posse’s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the historic courthouse in downtown Holbrook. At 12 noon the posse will take an oath given by postal officials to carry the U.S. Mail Wednesday through Friday, Jan 29-31. The Holbrook Chamber of Commerce will serve free hot dogs to members of the posse and bystanders after the ceremony. The Navajo County Historical Society and the Bucket of Blood Historic District is co-sponsoring Collins’ book signing, which will start at 12:30 p.m. in the museum’s Route 66 Auditorium. Her presentation will be approximately 45 minutes long. For more than 140 years the Hash Knife brand has intrigued Western history lovers. From its rough and ready sounding name to its travels throughout Texas, Montana and Arizona, the Hash Knife name has been romanticized like few others in the cattle industry. Several outfits have been proud to call the brand their own, and the stories behind the men who worked for these companies are the epitome of Western lore and truth combined. That’s especially true in Arizona, where the Aztec Land and Cattle Company owned the brand beginning in 1884. The Hash Knife left a lasting impression on places like Holbrook, Joseph City, Winslow and the famed OW Ranch while shaping Northern Arizona. From its historic roots to the famed Hashknife Pony Express Ride each January, the Hash Knife has left its mark as a beloved mainstay of the American West. A number of family legacies in Navajo County can lay claim to the Hashknife history, as many of the early cowboys settled here generations ago. Collins, a historian and author, has her claim, too, as her great-grandfather, George Hennessey, and great-great grandfather, Frank Wallace, were two of the last true Hash Knife cowboys. Her book, Hash Knife Around Holbrook, offers a photographic look at the brand’s days in Arizona, even after it was purchased by the Babbitt Brothers. This is the same brand that the Hashknife Posse has had permission to use since its first ride in 1959. Collins introduces an aspect to Hash Knife history as told through images from museums from Texas and Montana, as well as a number of family photographs that have never been published before. The book is available for $21.99. Those purchased on Jan. 28 will be autographed by Collins. The historical society’s bookshop is also offering Hashknife Posse Pony Express Ride bandanas and 2014 Pony Express Ride posters, as well as hand-cut wooden Hashknife Pony Express Rider ornaments. In addition, the bookshop has a selection of other books covering a wide variety of topics, all ideal for personal libraries or gifts.