La Bonte Station

Submitted by scott on

It is located 15 miles from Elk Horn Station and 10 miles from Bed Tick Station. Also, a creek and town in Converse County, Wyoming, named for La Bonte (Labonte, LaBonte), an early French trapper. He was a trapper with “Uncle Dick” Woolston’s party in 1838 was killed in Utah. The Indians after killing this noted character, cut flesh from the bones and ate it. La Bonte belonged in Wyoming and had lived for a number of years on the North Platte in what is now Converse County.

Cottonwood Station (Wyoming)

Submitted by scott on

Several sources identify Cottonwood as a station between Nine Mile Station (Ward's) and Horseshoe Creek. However, Helen Henderson asserts that there were two Cottonwood Stations in the area. According to Henderson, the oldest of the two stations, which was one-half mile from the Badger railroad station, served as the Pony Express station. Cottonwood Creek is often mentioned in diaries and journals of pioneers and military men, as well as the itineraries of stage and Pony Express routes.

Nine Mile Station (Wyoming)

Submitted by scott on

This site is nine miles west of Fort Laramie. Sources identify this station by several names, including Nine Mile Station, Sand Point, Ward's, and Central Star. Sand Point served as a both relay station for the Pony Express and stage lines. According to Gregory Franzwa, in the 1840s, Ward and Guerrier operated the Sand Point Trading Post at the site, and then in the 1850s, Jules E. Coffee, managed a stage station here.  (NPS)

Verdling's Ranch Station

Submitted by scott on

According to Merrill Mattes, Verdling's Ranch Station is probably eight miles from Fort Laramie and two miles west of Lingle, Wyoming. James Bordeaux (spelled various ways), probably a French-Canadian, managed a trading post/store at the station and his association with the site was responsible for some of the many names for this station. Other sources also list Verdling's Ranch or Bedeau's Ranch as a station.  (NPS)

Scott's Bluff Station

Submitted by scott on

This site is probably near or at the old Fort Mitchell (1864-1868) site, twelve miles west of Ficklin's Springs and about two and one-half miles northwest of Mitchell Pass, near a bend of the North Platte River. Even though Mabel Loving and Roy Bloss identify Fort Mitchell as a station after Scott's Bluff, other sources generally link the two sites but differ on its function as a relay or home station. (NPS)

Chimney Rock Station

Submitted by scott on

Trail historians generally agree that Chimney Rock was a Pony Express station, however, the exact location of this site is still unclear. Two traditional sources place the station between the Chimney Rock formation and the river: one places the station at Facus Springs, nine miles northwest of Bridgeport, while the other source locates it two miles south and one mile west of Bayard, Nebraska. (NPS)

Chimney Rock was in sight for Sam and Orion in the morning of July 31.

Mud Springs Station

Submitted by scott on

The Mud Springs Station is well documented and it has been well researched by several authors. Nevertheless, its exact location is in dispute. This site is possibly located about twelve miles southeast of Bridgeport, Nebraska, in Morrill County. Sources generally agree on its identity as a home station for the C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. James McArdle served as station keeper for the Pony Express and stage lines, which probably shared the same sod structures. Mud Springs also later served as a telegraph relay station.

Midway Station

Submitted by scott on

This supposed site is presumably on State Highway 285 and U.S. 385, about three miles south and one mile west of Gurley, Nebraska. The site does not occur in official records, but would serve as a logical place for a relay station between Pole Creek No. 3 and Mud Springs. In 1866, Margaret Carrington, an officer's wife, noted that the mail station received water from a "government well" at the site. Mrs. Francis Carrington, possibly a relative of Margaret's, mentioned this station in her diary as well.

Pole Creek No. 3 Station

Submitted by scott on

The Pole Creek No. 3 Station site was likely about three and one-half miles east of Sidney, Nebraska, in Cheyenne County. According to Mattes and Henderson, the station's log and sod dugout once stood on the north side of Lodgepole Creek, which flowed through the St. George Cattle Ranch. For a time, Rouliette and Pringle operated the site as a stage ranch, near the intersection of the old California Road and stage routes heading for the North Platte and Bridger Pass. (NPS)