Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
The 2024 commemorative Pony Express envelopes are now available for purchase at various locations in Worland, Ten Sleep and Hyattville.
Each year on July 4th, the Ten Sleep-Hyattville Lions Club re-enact a horseback mail relay from Hyattville to Ten Sleep, and the public is invited to purchase commemorative envelopes to mail letters by Pony Express.
Envelopes are sold for $5 each, and are available in Worland at the Washakie County Library, the senior center and Cloud Peak Vet Service. In Ten Sleep, envelopes are available at the library, the senior center, and the Sleepy Coyote, and in Hyattville at Paintrock Inn and Paintrock Processing.
Buyers will enclose their letter in the commemorative envelope and return it to the point of purchase before July 3.
Letters will be gathered in Hyattville early on the morning of July 4, marked with a special Pony Express cancellation stamp, and loaded into a saddle bag. Pony Express riders will be sworn to a solemn oath, and the first rider will depart Hyattville with the mail bag at 8 a.m. In a relay consisting of 15 to 25 riders, the mail will be carried on the high lope to Ten Sleep, and will arrive in time to lead the July 4th parade.
In Ten Sleep, the Pony Express letters will be merged into the U.S. mail for delivery anywhere in the world.
First Class postage is affixed to the envelopes, but if the letter exceeds one ounce, or is addressed outside the U.S., additional postage will need to be added. In each of the past several years, the Pony Express has delivered well over 200 letters addressed to over 40 states and several foreign countries.
This fundraiser supports the community service goals of the local Lions Club, and is one of many fun events held throughout the year.
More details can be found on the event's Facebook page at "HTS Pony Express" and on their YouTube Channel with the same name. For additional information, call Lyle Spence at 307-272-2477.
Shelley Spence, who helps coordinate the event, said, "Letter writing has become a lost art in our age of technology, but I think it is the most wonderful form of communication. An old-fashioned letter, tucked away in personal papers, can endure for generations as a special treasure, and a Pony Express letter often thrills the recipient."
