From the Archives: A look back at the Chincoteague Island pony auction
There are two herds of wild ponies that live on Assateague Island on the Eastern Shore at the Maryland-Virginia line. The herds have a long history dating back to the 1700s. Many believe the ponies that inhabit the island are descendants of horses who survived a shipwreck of a Spanish galleon in 1750. Today, each herd is managed by a different entity — the Maryland herd by the National Park Service and the Virginia herd by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Each year, to help control the size of the herd, the Fire Company hosts a pony auction on the last Thursday of July. Thousands of spectators gather for the event where they watch the pony herd swim from Assateague to Chincoteague Island.
05-05-1958: Chincoteague.
07-30-1976 (cutline): Auctioneer Bernie Pleasants responds to a bid for wild pony. Ashland man presided over sale of 41 colts during yesterday's sale at Chincoteague.
07-28-1972 (cutline): Auctioneer Bernie Pleasants of Red Gate Horse Farm at Montpelier sold about 50 Asateague Island ponies yesterday at the annucal auction at Chincoteague.
07-12-1968 (cutline): Eachyear the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company rounds up a number of Assateague Island's wild ponies and herds them across the channel to Chincoteague for a festival and sale. This year the roundup starts this coming Monday, with the swim planned for July 24 and the sale for the 25th. After two days on Chincoteague, the ponies that aren't sold are again herded into Assateague channel to swim back to their island home and freedom for another year.
08-01-1959 (cutline): Spectators on fishing boats watch ponies on Assateague in background as they are herded into water for the swim to Chincoteague.
07-29-1976 (cutline): Machelle Yeatman of Warsaw paid $150 for pony. Volunteer handler helped 8-year-old.
01-28-1964 (cutline): Bridge carried many visitors from Chincoteague to Assateague Beach in its first year.
07-19-1967 (cutline): Roundup time is near for Chincoteague volunteer firemen.
05-05-1958: Chincoteague
04-29-1962 (cutline): Main St. today is spotless but four stores are gone, two of them at left in Chincoteague.
07-03-1976 (cutline): Delmas Taylor (left), Kenny Rhoads carry nervous pony from auction platform.
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Every summer, tens of thousands flock to the shores of Chincoteague Island to see the wild ponies swimming across the Assateague Channel.
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