• 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)

  • Red Buttes Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Located 10 miles from North Platte Station and 12 miles from Willow Springs Station about 200 feet southwest of the Red Buttes Oregon Trail Marker and south of the old Goose Egg Ranch house. Red Buttes Pony Express Station was located on a ridge overlooking the North Platte River at Bessemer Bend. Explorers, fur traders, mountain men and emigrants camped at this site. Although the main route of the Oregon Trail was located a few miles north of this site, many emigrant travelers crossed the North Platte River here for the last time on their trek to the west.

  • Platte Bridge Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Note: Point plotted is the location of the old bridge 42.836667, -106.371111

    Located 15 miles from Bridger Station and 10 miles from Red Butte Station in the present Fort Caspar area just west of the south end of the marker for Old Platte Bridge. The Station Tender was Louis Guenot.

  • Bridger Station

    Submitted by scott on

    The Overland Mail Company contract of 1861, as well as Bishop and Henderson, identify Bridger as the station between Deer Creek and North Platte/Fort Casper. Franzwa also specifically mentions the site as a Pony Express station and locates it on his maps (NPS)

    Note: Plotted a point in Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park

  • Little Muddy Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Note: Plotted on Muddy Creek

    Raymond and Mary Settle, noted historians and experts on the Pony Express, and one other source identify Little Muddy as the next station west of Deer Creek Station. The stone station, erected without mortar, reportedly stood ten miles west of Deer Creek. However, its exact location has not been identified. (NPS)

  • Deer Creek Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Located just east of present Glenrock, Wyoming, Deer Creek Station, on the route of the Oregon Trail, served as a Pony Express Station prior to its designation as a telegraph station in 1861. According to one early telegraph operator, “Deer Creek was 100 miles west of Fort Laramie, and 28 miles east of where Casper was later situated. It is located 10 miles from Box Elder Station and 10 miles from Bridger Station on the west bank of Deer Creek. The station was owned and operated by an Indian Trader by the name of Bisonette, who was Station Keeper for a while.

  • Box Elder Creek Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Little is known about the history of Box Elder Creek Station other than several sources agree that it served as a Pony Express station. A man named Wheeler managed station operations at Box Elder, which probably also served as a passenger/mail stage stop under the 1861 Overland Mail Company contract. Franzwa does not indicate that Box Elder Station served specifically as a Pony Express station, but he plotted a station with this name on his maps.  (NPS)

  • Lapierelle Station

    Submitted by scott on

    The 1861 Overland Mail Company contract also listed Lapierelle as a passenger/mail station stop, which Bishop and Henderson listed as Lapierelle (La Prele)—a station between Bed Tick and Box Elder. Franzwa also identifies a La Prele Station on his maps, but he does not specifically cite it as a Pony Express site.  (NPS)

  • 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)

  • Kickapoo Station

    Submitted by scott on

    This relay station stood on Delaware Creek (also called Big Grasshopper or Plum Creek) about twelve miles west of Horton, Kansas, and was generally known as Kickapoo or Goteschall. [24] Both the station and the stone Presbyterian mission, a nearby landmark, existed on the Kickapoo Indian Reservation. Noble Rising, a Kansas pioneer and surveyor, maintained the station with W. W. Letson.

  • 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)

  • Willow Island Station

    Submitted by scott on

    Note: Point plotted about 6 miles SE of Cozad

    The Willow Island or Willow Bend Station site is most likely in Dawson County, Nebraska, approximately six miles southeast of Cozad. Sources generally agree on its identity as the Willow Island an/or Willow Bend Station. Some sources associate Pat Mullaly's Ranch with Willow Island Ranch or Station. R. C. Freeman conducted ranch operations after Mullaly.  (NPS)

    Drinking stop for Richard Burton

  • Seventeen Mile Station

    Submitted by scott on

    In 1859, the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company (L. & P.P. Express Co.) established a stagecoach station at Seventeen Mile Station to serve as the first stop for passengers after Fort Kearney. When the Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company assumed control of these stations and started the Pony Express, it is likely that they made the Seventeen Mile Station a relay station on the route. In 1860, when the noted English traveller Richard F.

  • Kiowa Station

    Submitted by scott on

    This site is reportedly about ten miles northwest of Hebron, in Thayer County. Kiowa served as a stop for both the Pony Express and for both the L. & P.P. Express Co. and C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. stagecoaches. Jim Douglas managed the station operations. (NPS)

    Note: Mapped is a point 10 miles NW of Hebron