Ron Atkinson will ride in the National Pony Express Association’s re-ride for the 28th time on Sunday night. COURTESY PHOTO

Sunday night, local riders with the National Pony Express Association will lope through Uinta County for their re-ride of the historic trial that ran from 1860 to 1861. Ron Atkinson will ride for his 28th year and relive some of the old west.

“My great-great-grandfather was an original pony express rider,” Atkinson said.

The local group covers from the state line with Utah to the Sweetwater County line. They trade off every two miles for the 88-mile section.

The trail has been listed with National Historic Trails system since 1992.

“We try to stay on the (original) trail as much as we can,” Atkinson said.

This year there are nearly 40 riders in the county, aged from 14 to 60 years old.

“We could always use new riders,” Atkinson said, “especially on a night run.”

The uniformed riders with their cowboy hats, red shirts, and blue jeans come from all over to ride. One year they even had two girls from Norway ride, Atkinson said.

Atkinson’s wife and daughter also ride.

“When I first started riding, women couldn’t ride because there wasn’t an original pony express rider that was a woman,” Atkinson said. But that was changed about 15 years ago.

Families or couples ride together, but only one carries the mail in a “mochila” which fits over a saddle and carries about 1,200 letters.

The letters will be transferred to the U.S. Postal Service in St. Joseph, Missouri to be delivered.

The cost to send a letter that was carried 1,966 miles through eight states on horseback from Sacramento, California to Missouri is $5, which is what it was in 1860.

Before riding, riders take an oath that they will do their duty to deliver the mail. Riders carry a Bible in their pocket over their heart.

At the end of the ride, their Bible gets a stamp with a horse traveling the direction they rode and the year.

It will take more than seven hours to make the trip across the county, with each rider taking about 15 to 20 minutes to complete their leg. Atkinson said safety is a concern and the rider goes as fast as they are comfortable.

The date of the annual re-ride is scheduled to take place around a full moon so there is more light for the night riders. This year’s ride started on Wednesday. The ride goes 24-hours a day for ten days. The association also staggers the start time so that certain areas aren’t always at night.

Sometimes it is hard to gauge what time the riders will arrive, and can be as much as two hours ahead or behind. One year, it was five hours late because a rider in another state got bucked off his horse and they had to wait until daylight to find the horse with the mail, Atkinson said.

Generally, they have few injuries “but that’s why you carry a Bible,” Atkinson said.

This year will be the first year that there will be a global positioning system in the mochila. The link to the location of the rider can be found on xphomestation.com.

Each year they alternate the direction of the ride between Missouri and California. In two years, it will be the 150th anniversary and they will run it both directions.

About 800 people nationwide belong to the National Pony Express Association, and riding is not a requirement for membership. Still, new riders are always welcome.

“They can sign up even the day of the ride and we can make room for them,” Atkinson said.