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The early coaches of Wells Fargo consumed twenty days to cross from St. Joseph, Missouri, long considered a great outpost of civilization, to Sacramento. But twenty days to the merchants and bankers of the West Coast seemed an eternity, and so a short time before the beginning of the Civil War, the Pony Express came into existence. Having received assurances that fast communication from the Missouri River to California would be well patronized, three early stagecoach men, Senator W.M. Gwin, Alexander Majors and Daniel E. Phelps, made preparations for the inauguration of the new service. Six hundred broncos, especially chosen for fleetness, toughness and endurance, were purchased. Seventy-five men, none of them weighing over one hundred and ten pounds, were engaged as riders, being selected on account of their bravery, their capacity for deprivation and their horsemanship, as well as for their shooting abilities and their knowledge of the craft and the manner of attack of the Indians. One of these, Henry Wallace, was selected for the signal honor of inaugurating the Pony Express on April 3, 1860. In one of the laced pockets of his mochilla (Mexican saddlebags) he carried a message of congratulation from President Buchanan to the Governor of California, the words having been telegraphed that very morning from Washington to St. Joseph.

The packet which Wallace had taken out from St. Joseph reached Sacramento, the capital of California, just ten days later -- almost to the very hour. Night and day it had been carried forward unceasingly. A rider would pick it from his predecessor and ride forth sixty miles at top speed to the point where his "relief" awaited him, to pick up the mochilla and start off in turn upon his sixty mile stretch. Six hour were given each of these riders for his sixty mile stint, and in this time he rode six different ponies.

This express was a tremendous hit. Bankers and merchants found a ten day service between the western end of rail and telegraph communication at St. Joseph and Sacramento, where there was overnight boat transit to San Francisco, a tremendous help.

Each day, except Sunday, a messenger left St. Joseph at noon, another coming east from Sacramento at eight o'clock in the morning. For two years this service was maintained, through good weather and bad. The news of the taking of Fort Sumter was transmitted to Sacramento, eight hundred miles, in eighteen days and fourteen hours; Buchanan's last message in two hours' less time. Yet the Pony Express was destined to have only a short, if glorious, career. For along its path men were stringing copper wires, even in advance of the steady oncoming of the railroad, and some time in the early part of 1862 the telegraph reached California, and the Pony Express was dead. Financially it had never been a success. The letters carried were written on very fine tissue paper; the cost of carrying between San Francisco and St. Joseph, Missouri 1,800 miles, was $5.

Pony Express was started by the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce volunteer Debra Strickland on September 2001, with a little ole’ Trail Ride starting at the Pahrump Town Arena and ending at the Longstreet Casino in Armargosa. This became the 1^st Annual with 24 Riders:

These riders listed above, stretched out across a 36 Mile Trail that started in one Valley, crossed the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, and ended in another Valley. The mail was carried by different individuals throughout the day. Riders were greeting outside of Longstreet Casino by the Cowboy Action Shooters that would be shooting the 1^st Annual Shootout at Purgatory Flats the next day.

Steve Garrett decided to carry an American Flag along the Trail. Steve passed the Flag to Dale Leis, Shella Pooler, and Sean Garrett throughout the day. To this day, you will see a Garrett Family Member carrying the American Flag on the Trail Ride. Sean Garrett has been carried the flag continuously since 2004.

The idea of a flag co on with the PVCC Committee so on the 2^nd Annual the Pony Express Flag was carried. The flag is a representation of the original Stamp from 2001.

For 2001 Sharon Wehrly donated an engraved set of Saddle Bags to the PVCC to carry the mail. Those original Saddle Bags are carried by the Mail Carrier to this day.

On September 2003, the Wild West Extravaganza (WWE) was born. This event was the brain child of Bob Baker who still hosts this event annually. The Pony Express joined WWE riding into the Saddle West Casino where a Boomtown has been erected for the weekend. The WWE has become a premier event with everything from Pony Express to: Bar-B-Q, Melodrama, Shootouts, Parade, Live Country Music Outdoors, Guns Show Indoors, Adult and Children’s Games, Vendors, Best Dressed Contests, and Church Services. Pony Express rides down the middle of Boomtown with the streets cleared to welcome the Riders.

Here we are at the 9^th Annual Pony Express. We have had anywhere between 24 to 106 Riders participate in this event each year. We have rode from Pahrump to Longstreet, from Longstreet to Pahrump, from the Short Branch Saloon in Crystal to Pahrump, S-Bar-T Arena in Pahrump to the Saddle West Casino in Pahrump and now from Windrock Ranch in Pahrump to the Saddle West Casino.

Each year Riders receive commemorative Hat Pin, Wild West Rag, Commemorative Envelope and Stamp to send in the Mail carried into Boomtown. After the Riders arrive the Mail Call is done on Stage at Boomtown.