Hashknife

On Friday February 1st I was over at my parent's house, and my Dad called and told me that he was with Uncle Gayle and that they would be home in a few Minutes. My uncle Gayle and Aunt Velma (his wife) live up in Holbrook and so whenever they come down I just love to be around them. They are seriously HILARIOUS!!! For those of you who know the car wash story you know what I mean! I was curious to find out why he came down by himself so when he got to my parents house I asked him. He told me that he just finished his Pony Express 50th ride. Since I think this is the coolest thing I want to keep record of it for my family and our future generations. I decided I was going to interview my Uncle and find out all the details of his trip. This is what I got....

The 1st time around...

His 1st ride was in 1958 he rode down to the state captial with about 15 other people on his horse Ginger. He was the youngest of everyone at only 23 years old. After being sworn in (which I thought was cool. It reminded me of those old western movies my dad watches.) they took off from Holbrook for their 18 hour straight ride!! This path was on windy dirt roads that were not smooth at all!! Plus they are winding down Mountains. Once they reached the Capital they delivered a letter to the Governor at the time Paul Fannin. The letter invited the Governor to the Hashknife stampede Rodeo. The governor accepted the invitation and did attend.

Same ride 50 years later....

Ok now fast forward 50 years, and this is the ride my uncle just finished. He left Wednesday January 30, 2008 at 8:00am. They stopped in Payson at 5:00 for dinner and to sleep. The next morning they got up and arrived in Scottsdale at 4:30 January 31th. He then rode into Scottsdale the next day for a very big event honoring the men of the Hashknife Pose. Upon arrival in Scottsdale they unveiled a new monument to the Hashknife Pony Express. My Uncle Gayle was the youngest rider on the original ride, and this year he was the oldest. He is also the only man who is still doing the ride that was part of the original pose in 1958. They brought down over 30,000 letters as well as the official football for the Super Bowl being played in Glendale that Sunday. They recorded footage of the men riding their horses into town which will also be viewed at the game.

Some other interesting things I found out from my Uncle.

1. His coat was hand made by his nephew Jason who is Uncle Jack's son.

2. Even though the men are all volunteers if they drop a bag of mail they are fined $100!!!

Here is a Poem someone wrote about the ride...

The Hashknife Pony Express

Y'all gather around and

I'll tell ye a tale

'bout the Pony express

and the delivery of the mail...

From Holbrook to Scottsdale

it's a rough 3 day ride

with an overnight in Payson

where some of us reside...

For the last 50 years

the ponies and their men

have made this tough Journey

up over the rim...

But should any man drop

a bag filled with Mail

he cannot blame the weather

be it rain, snow or hail...

One hundred dollars is the penalty

so, DON'T DROP THE MAIL, BOYS,

Just ride carefully.

Then loop down the Verde River

a final stopover, and then

it's onward to Scottsdale

Where their historic ride ends!

One last thought...for those of you who know my dad and you want to know what he will look like when he is older just look at Gayle. I can not believe how much they look a like. I told my Dad to put on his cowboy hat and take a picture with Gayle. My dad could not find his hat so he put on a hat he got in Australia and told me to take the picture...from what I hear my dad is a cowboy at heart. Even though he looks like an Australian here!!!