Though it was only a slender sapling when the original Pony Express riders galloped through Fairfield, an historic black willow tree provided a living link to the past last week when a modern Pony Express rider and his bride exchanged vows beneath its spreading branches.

Michael Delbert Tripp, of Stockton, and his bride, Vickie Rae Cowan, of Grantsville, chose Camp Floyd State Park in Fairfield as their wedding site not only because of its beauty but also for its historic connections.

"This history that's here, I'm part of it," said Tripp, who has ridden in Pony Express re-enactments for 25 years. Commemorating the daring riders who joined East to West is an important part of Michael's life that he wanted to share with his bride.

Three other members of his family -- his son, daughter and son-in-law -- also participate in the annual June Pony Express re-ride that comes through Fairfield along the historic 2,000-mile route between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.

The Stagecoach Inn in Fairfield served as one of 157 way-stations during the operation of the Pony Express from April 1860 to October 1861.

"When he first brought me here, I thought it was absolutely perfect -- so beautiful, simple and serene. I said, 'Let's get married right here,' " Cowan said.

John Carson, builder and original operator of the Stagecoach Inn, planted the two majestic black willow trees that now provide dense shade for the inn's grounds. Carson had the two saplings shipped by stagecoach to Fairfield from a San Francisco nursery in 1858.

"All the other black willows in town come from starts from these two," said Mark Trotter, Camp Floyd State Park manager. Trotter said that his research indicates that the average lifespan of a black willow tree is about 75 years.

At 151 years old, the Stagecoach Inn black willows have more than doubled their life expectancy and have served as a living backdrop from the Wild West days of stagecoach travel and Pony Express riders to modern tourists and even a wedding.

"It is wonderful to hold this special wedding beneath these magnificent trees. Can you just wonder how many lives they have seen come and go under their great branches," said Fairfield Mayor Lynn Gillies, who performed the Tripps' ceremony.

Gillies himself provided another page in the history of the black willow trees. Gillies is Fairfield's first mayor since the town's incorporation, and this was the first wedding he had ever performed.

None of the wedding party seemed troubled by Camp Floyd's spooky reputation as one of the most haunted sites in Utah. Even though ghost hunters and paranormal investigators visit the park on a regular basis, the wedding guests didn't report any apparitions or ghostly whispers.

"Everybody that's gone before us can come, too, if they want. They're all welcome. This place just has such a feeling of peace and history," said Cowan.

Besides their ties to the past, the couple see the future in their new marriage and their families. Tripp has three children and three grandchildren, and Cowan has two children and six grandchildren.

Both the bride and groom love horses and plan to ride daily when they make their first home in Stockton. After greeting their wedding guests under the massive branches of the historic black willows, the Tripps embarked on their honeymoon to Mt. Rushmore not astride a horse, but a Harley-Davidson motorcycle -- a roaring symbol of the present day.

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