AUSTIN, Nev. (AP) - A Global Positioning System would have come
in handy for Pony Express riders on the nearly 2,000-mile route
from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento a century and a half ago.

And while technology helped spell the end of the original mail delivery service in 1861, the latest high-tech advances now are helping re-create the journey.

Horseback riders are equipped with a GPS tracking device this year as they carry the famed leather mail pouch through eight states as part of the annual Pony Express Re-ride.

Larry Carpenter is the secretary for the National Pony Express Association. He describes it as "low-tech transportation with high-tech coverage."

The satellite location technology is allowing organizers and the public to track the trek that began Wednesday morning in Old Sacramento.

Just before noon today, the rider was in the middle of Nevada on the Old Overland Road about 35 miles west of Austin and about 140 miles east of Reno.

The final rider is expected to arrive in Missouri a week from tomorrow.

You can view the progress at:
http://ponyexpressnationaltracking.com/RiderTracking.html

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-06-20-08 1526EDT