The 2025 National Pony Express Association re-ride from Sacramento, California, to Saint Joseph, Missouri, galloped across Wyoming on Tuesday, spending the majority of the afternoon on Oregon Trail Road through ranch country in Natrona County.
Riders had to endure some rain and hail along the way, just like those who rode 165 years ago.
Jackie Breed and B.J. Largent of Casper were waiting on Oregon Trail Road near Poison Spider Road in Natrona County in the rain with their horses Theodore Roosevelt and Cher to take the mochila down Poison Spider Road.
“This is part of it,” Breed explained as she prepared Cher for her journey. “Rain, sunshine it just makes the experience.”
Largent, who is in her second year of riding the Pony Express re-ride, stated that she simply enjoys “making history.”
The annual re-ride, which began in 1980, attempts to retrace the 1,966-mile route that young male Pony Express riders took between Missouri and California from April 1860 to October 1861.
The riders transport actual mail from the United States Post Office, and in Wyoming, they travel from Evanston, Wyoming to Lyman, Nebraska in teams that take turns carrying the cargo.
Modern riders do not have to worry about attacks from raiding Native Americans or winter blizzards, but each year brings new challenges to completing the mission.
Riders from the association’s Central Wyoming Division spent much of Tuesday carrying a leather pack or satchel known as a mochila, which contained 1,200 pieces of mail.
They planned to arrive at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper by 7:10 p.m. and hand over duties to the Glenrock group outside of Casper at 8 p.m. The Glenrock group was expected to transport it to Douglas and deliver the mochila shortly after midnight.
The re-ride entered Wyoming on Monday morning, south of Evanston.
Wyoming Pony Express Association President Les Bennington, of Glenrock, said the 160 riders in seven ride groups across the state have 56 hours to deliver mail to Lyman, Nebraska, by 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Nearly Original Route
Central Wyoming Division Captain Diedra Homann said she was keeping her eyes Tuesday on any rain forecast as she prepared her team for their leg of the mission.
They picked up the mochila in Jeffrey City around 6:30 a.m. from a group of riders from Lander, Riverton, and Atlantic City.
Part of their route includes the dirt/clay Oregon Trail Road, which connects to Highway 220 near the Pathfinder Reservoir and loops across to Casper.
“If it rains, the Oregon Trail Road can simply eat lunch. We sometimes have to use one horse, and they have to ride until they find another,” Homann explained. “It gets slimier than heck and we have to get the trailers off of there in a hurry.”
The parade of horse trailers and support vehicles on the barely two-lane dirt Oregon Trail Road escaped before the downpour.
Angela and Dustin Cope of Gillette joined the Central Wyoming Division and were driving their rig down Oregon Trail, hoping to avoid the impending rain, when they stopped to speak with Cowboy State Daily.
Angela Cope described her morning ride as “little chaotic to start” after being bucked off her horse. She was fine. They rode horses called Willow and Tango. Her husband was in his second season, and she was in her fourth year riding.
“It’s fun to remake history,” Angela Cope said.
According to Bennington, a Wyoming rider had a mishap on Monday when her saddle came loose while she was riding, throwing her off.
The horse bucked and crashed into a fence, tearing a strap from the mochila.
“We got everything gathered up and another lady took the miles or trips she had, and we didn’t really get slowed down at all,” he told me. “Anytime you’re dealing with horses, and we run 24/7, nighttime is always a little more difficult. But we’re still going at a good pace.”
People ‘Coming Together’
Bennington leads the Glenrock ride group, which this year includes approximately 18 riders and 20 horses.
Their group was scheduled to meet the Central Wyoming riders across from the Sinclair Refinery east of Casper at 8 p.m., and then transport the mochila to the Douglas group at Exit 150 on I-25 by 12:30 a.m.
Mounting the horse and delivering the letters to Nebraska remains a “thrill” for both Bennington, who has participated in the re-ride since 1980, when the eight states combined to do it, and Homann, who has been riding for several years and captain of her division for the past eight.
“There are not very many events in the United States where you have 700 people coming together and you have everyone rooting for everyone else to succeed,” says Homann. “It is not a competition between states or people.
“It takes a lot of teamwork to make this happen. As we watch it come across, we can only cheer for their success.”
Bennington stated that Wyoming and Nebraska both have 500 miles of riding, and that the horses and riders are truly committed to moving the mail.
“It must be a slow gallop or a fast trot. “They have to average six minutes per mile,” he said. “We have 56 hours to travel across Wyoming, which is nonstop day and night. I’ve clocked riders going over 30 (mph), which helps make up time; at night, we’re lucky to get 5-7 mph.”
The Central Wyoming riders have four new faces on the ride, including a Pony Express Association member from Kansas. On a re-ride, four of the riders have more than ten years of riding experience, while several others have more than four.
New Rider
Natalie Berwick of Golden, Colorado, was one of the new riders waiting with friend Carly Brown, who has six years of re-rides under her belt. Brown took a leg about 2 p.m. Tuesday in the middle of a private ranch as Oregon Trail Road cut through it.
“It’s phenomenal. “I didn’t expect it to be such a touching experience,” Berwick said, just before Brown grabbed the mochila and left. “It feels so American.”
Terry Apel of Casper assisted the riders by opening gates next to cattle guards along the Oregon Trail Road, allowing them to continue without stopping. He’s been with the re-rides for 12 years.
“My wife has been doing it or 15 years,” he informed me. “It’s a good time.”
Bennington announced that he has one new rider joining his team in Glenrock, as well as a rider from Colorado who has participated in previous years.
He claims that riders from Germany, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland have previously participated in the event.
“There is a tremendous amount of interest in American Western history in the European countries and even in Japan,” said the president.
