The Hashknife Pony Express is a FREE FAMILY EVENT at the Payson Post Office! Come and visit the esteemed Hashknife Pony Express riders as they arrive in Payson.
The old west is brought to life as an elite group of riders thunder through Arizona. Ask questions, get autographs, and have FUN! Beginning in historic Holbrook, the horseback mail route covers over 200 miles from the majestic Mogollon Rim through Payson and the wilderness of the Mazatzal range to the desert city of Scottsdale where it kicks off the Scottsdale Jaycees' Parada del Sol celebration.
The Hashknife was a tool originally used by chuck wagon cooks to cut meat for hash, often fed to cowboys on the range. The Hashknife brand now identifies the Pony Express. Riders are members of the Navajo County Sheriff's Posse or their invited guests.
The Hashknife outfit has the longest contract with the U.S. Postal Service and annually delivers around 20,000 pieces of first-class mail bearing the valued "Via Pony Express" cachet which is hand-stamped by the riders before the start of the ride. Come watch the Hashknife Pony Express ride the mail into Payson! They arrive at the Payson Post Office in late January or Early February every year, come rain or shine! Neither rain, sleet, nor dark of night can stop the Hashknife Pony Express.
Bring the family out to enjoy meeting the riders, horses, purchase Hashknife memento's, and activities for the kids! If you would like to mail something via the Pony Express, The "Official Pony Express Envelope" is available on December 1st. The public can purchase them for $1 each at the Holbrook, Overgaard, Pine, Heber, Payson, Fountain Hills, and Scottsdale Post Offices. Your letter will be hand-stamped with the official ride logo, the treasured cachet coveted by stamp collectors around the world. So pick up your official envelopes and start writing! Check with your Post Office for the mailing deadline.
After the delivery all 30 riders go to the Rusty Spur Saloon in downtown Scottsdale for lunch and they hitch their horses to a hitching post on the street in Scottsdale, Arizona. Come out and meet the riders at each event along the way and support a rich western tradition that links our communities with the past.