EAGLE MOUNTAIN — One hundred and forty seven years ago, Pony Express riders raced through the western hills of Eagle Mountain, braving cold, loneliness and fatigue.
Saturday, a lone horseman galloped along the same trail, which now winds through a newly built subdivision, braving very different obstacles — a freight truck, a helicopter and a crowd of residents gathered to celebrate the dedication of a new Pony Express monument.
"I'm sure they had problems with skittish horses back then, too," said City Councilwoman Linn Strouse. She chuckled as she watched the rider coax the horse up the hill toward the new monument, which marks the location of the Pony Express station known as Joe's Dug Out.
The horse carried a letter from Eagle Mountain Mayor Don Richardson to Mayor Linn Gilles in Fairfield, where another Pony Express monument was dedicated Saturday.
The Pony Express trail has a special place in the hearts of Eagle Mountain residents, who dedicate a week to celebrating its history each year.
"This monument helps our city remember what it's known for," Richardson said. "It's amazing what we've done with transportation and communication in this country and, when you think about it, the Pony Express started us down that road."
The Pony Express monument, which is about 50 feet from the intersection of Sandpiper Road and the appropriately named Pony Express Parkway, is the 51st to be erected along the historic route. The Pony Express Trail Association will dedicate three more of the granite monuments over the next month.
Strouse, a self-proclaimed history buff, contacted the Pony Express Trail Association about setting up a station marker in Eagle Mountain after she heard a speech by the organization's executive director Joe Nardone in 2003.
"There he was in his buckskins and his six-shooter, bringing history alive," she said. "The audience was spellbound. I knew I wanted a piece of that history in our city."
Nardone, who once again donned his buckskin suit Saturday, has spent nearly 20 years working to set up monuments along the Pony Express trail, which stretches 1,943 miles from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif. He has traveled the road on foot, on horseback and has put nearly 700,000 miles on his chocolate-colored Ford Bronco driving along it.
"If someone would have told me what I'd be doing today when we put up our first monument, I would have said, 'No way,'" he said, laughing.
The purpose of the monuments, Nardone said, is to inspire people to travel along the trail reading the story of each Pony Express station, which is inscribed on the back of each monument.
"You'll learn Pony Express history better than if you read a book," he said.
Knowing that history is vital, said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who attended the dedication.
"What we celebrate today is a great piece of a much larger idea ... a vision of liberty for all people everywhere," he said. "In that environment wonderful things happen: We develop new technology and new ways of educating and communicating."
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