Mail by horseback tradition begins Wednesday in Arizona
Feb 8, 2017, 6:30 AM
(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — Mail gets delivered six days a week, but because it happens so often, it’s easy to take it for granted. Most of us probably don’t know when it arrives and couldn’t answer who delivered it in the first place.
People in Arizona should keep an eye out this week for special mail deliverers.
The Hashknife Pony Express is set to begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday, as horseback riders will be delivering mail from Holbrook to Scottsdale the next few days.
The tradition kicked off Thursday when mail was collected from three Winslow elementary schools, but riders won’t be leaving the Holbrook Post Office until Wednesday morning.
This year marks the 59th ride for the Hashknife Pony Express, a tradition that happens only in Arizona. The ride is made during the Parada del Sol festival, where travelers go from Holbrook to Scottsdale with stops along the way delivering mail. More than two dozen riders in authentic cowboy clothing carry the mail, delivering 20,000 letters across 200 miles.
The riders are going to arrive in Scottsdale at around noon on Friday at the Museum of the West near Second Street and Marshall Way.
The ride is led by the Navajo County Hashknife Sheriff’s Posse.
