Before there was UPS and Fed Ex, mail was delivered by Pony Express. Started on April 3rd, 1860 at 7:15 p.m. when Johnny Fry rode his horse out of Pike's Peak Stables in St. Joseph, Missouri and headed northwest towards Sacramento, California carrying the mail pouch known as a mochila on a run that would take ten days. Though it lasted just a few years, the lore of the Pony Express became part of America's heritage.

Canaan Fall Festival

And each year, since 1967, Canaan, Indiana, a slip of a town just northeast of Madison, has celebrated the valiant riders in their Canaan Pony Express run during the Canaan Fall Festival. This re-enactment of the original relay ride, one of just a handful occurring in the country, travels the 12 miles from Canaan to Madison carrying the mochila loaded with letters hand stamped with the Pony Express Mail Run Station postmark.