Despite being a financial disaster at the time, the romance of the Pony Express lives on in American history, thanks in part to Buffalo Bill and Mark Twain who placed it firmly into popular culture.  For the 150th anniversary this year of the founding of the short-lived mail route, the annual re-enactment of the 1,966 mile relay ride will be extended to San Francisco (via rivercraft) and kept to daylight hours to accomodate accompanying celebrations.  Details and GPS tracking of the June event are on the official site.  You can have your own letter carried and postmarked by the Pony Express (this year’s application deadline is over).