Neither rain, sleet, nor dark of night can stop the Hashknife Pony Express. Each January/February for the past 61 years, the old west is brought to life as an elite group of riders thunders across Arizona.

This event is the oldest officially sanctioned Pony Express in the world. Each rider is sworn in as an honorary mail messenger braving weather, terrain and modern-day obstacles to deliver the United States mail.

Beginning in historic Holbrook, the horseback mail route covers more than 200 miles from the Mogollon Rim through the wilderness of the Mazatzal Mountains to the desert city of Scottsdale.

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 originated in Texas as the identification of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, which moved to Holbrook in 1866. Later, in 1957, the Navajo County Sheriff's Posse retained limited use of the brand. 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. The “Official Pony Express Envelope” is available for the public to purchase at post offices along the route, including Fountain Hills.

The public can purchase them for $1 each at the Holbrook, Joseph City, Winslow, Overgaard, Pine, Heber, Payson, Lakeside/Pinetop, Fountain Hills, Scottsdale and Snowflake Post Offices. Mailers are also available at the Scottsdale Museum of the West, 3830 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale.

Letters will be hand-stamped with the official ride logo, the treasured cachet coveted by stamp collectors around the world. The deadline for getting letters to the Post Office is Friday, Feb. 1. The ride begins in Holbrook on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and riders are scheduled to be at the Fountain Hills Post Office at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7. The final leg of the ride takes them to Scottsdale on Friday, Feb. 8.

This information is from the hashknifeponyexpress.com website.