In less than a week, members of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Hashknife Posse will make their way from Holbrook to Scottsdale on the 62nd Pony Express Ride.
This annual event brings back the days of the Old West when the U.S. Postal Service was the only means of receiving information regarding family, friends and the news of the world. Each year these riders transport bags of mail by horseback under the longest continuously sanctioned Pony Express mail contract held with the U.S. Postal Service.
This year’s ride will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5, as the first rider leaves the Holbrook Post Office with a bag of letters to be carried over the Mogollon Rim and on to Scottsdale.
Each mile a posse rider hands off the mailbag to another rider waiting alongside the roadway. All of the packed mailbags will be carried in turn over the route.
On the first day of the ride, the Pony Express riders will travel over State Route 77 to SR 377, stopping in Heber for lunch, then traveling on through Pine, where Pony Express letters will be added to the mailbags. The riders will arrive in Payson in time for a 7 p.m. dinner held in celebration of the ride.
On the morning of Thursday, Feb. 6, the riders will begin traveling down SR 260 to their evening campsite along the Verde River on the Ft. McDowell Indian Reservation just outside of Fountain Hills.
After a traditional cowboy breakfast by the river the next morning, the riders will mount up for the final leg of their ride to the main Scottsdale Post Office on Osborn Road. The U.S. Mail will arrive at the Scottsdale postal facility at 12 noon, where the postmaster will accept the pony express letters, which will then be delivered to patrons by conventional carriers.
The 62nd anniversary ride celebration starts on Monday, Feb. 3, as posse members visit schools in Joseph City at 9 a.m., Indian Wells Elementary School at 10 a.m. and Holbrook Head Start at 10:30 a.m. The riders end their rounds with a visit to both Park and Hulet elementary schools.
At 11:30 a.m. a parade will take place along Navajo Blvd. and Hopi Drive, finishing at the Historic Navajo County Courthouse on Arizona Street where the oath of office ceremony will be conducted at 12 noon to authorize the riders and support crew to carry the mail.
A dinner will be hosted by the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce to honor the posse beginning at 6 o’clock with dinner served at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Pat’s House of Originals located at 208 Navajo. Blvd. or the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce office inside the old Historic Courthouse along with other Hashknife merchandise.
On the morning of the ride, the Holbrook Senior Center will host a breakfast for the Hashknife Posse, area residents and visitors at 6 a.m. at a cost of $6 per plate.
Led by Captain Mark Reynolds are First Lt. Steve Reynolds, Second Lt. Jim Mobley and First Sgt. Pat Reynolds, and riders including, Tommy Allen, Robert Black, Mike Bowman, Dan Buckingham, Sam Buckingham, Wade Carlisle, Sheriff David Clouse, Aaron Colon, Domenic DeMartino, Dillon DeWitt, Preston Ellis, Jeff Gravely, Ed Hamilton, Gary Hayes, Bob Kashni, Tim Kelley, Tim Lesperance, Jason Lewis, Greg Long, Shawn Maestas, Bob Moffett, Walter Pacheco, Leo Parent, Joe Perez, David Ramos, Jay Robertson, Scott Self, David Shumway, Steve Thomas, John Veenendaal, Frank Vermeulen and Hoby Wilhelm.
The support crew for this year’s ride includes Del Allen, Scott Badger, Chris Baker, Dan Bielefelt, Tom Cernier, Ron Chisholm, Phil Cobb, Kevin Fetherston, Bill Fischer, Mark Jackson, Cloyce Kelley, Jim Mobley, Evan Mondragon, Bill Perkins, Andy Pickett, David Reese, Sean Reese, Doyce Stuart, Kelland Webb, Wylie Williams and Jerry Young.
The Navajo County Hashknife Sheriff’s Posse organized in 1955 as a search and rescue group, and is still involved in these types of missions. It is an equipped and trained posse that can join searches wherever needed throughout Arizona.
