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.

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.

Many sources identify Willow Springs as a station, including the 1861 Overland Mail Company contract. The Hendersons located this station approximately twenty-eight miles southwest of current-day Casper, Wyoming. According to the Settles, the site at one time consisted of a crude structure without a corral, and it served as a home station for stage lines and a relay station for riders. Franzwa notes Willow Springs in his Oregon Trail maps but does not specifically identify it as a Pony or stage station.

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.

This station was not mentioned in the 1861 Overland Mail Contract. Located 6 miles from Sweetwater Pony Express Station and 6 miles from Plant’s Station.

The Pony Express Route and the Oregon Trail are the same through this part of Wyoming. Split Rock Station and Devil’s Gate Station are located one “Oregon Trail Day” apart.

Located 12 miles from Sweetwater Pony Express Station, 6 miles from Devil’s Gate Station and 12 miles from Split Rock Station about 400 feet south of the Sweetwater River. The Station Tender was Plant and was probably the same Plant who was Tender at Split Rock. Believed that Sweetwater and Plant’s Stations were abandoned and that two Station Tenders with the same name was further evidence of the abandonment of Plant’s Station.
(Expedition Utah)

From South Pass, the Pony Express Trail followed the Sweetwater River northeastward to Split Rock Station which was located 65 miles north of Rawlins on US287 heading for Lander. Located 12 miles from Plant’s Station and 14 miles from Three Crossings Station. The Station Tender was Plant or Plante. Split Rock Relay Station was a crude log structure with a pole corral and was located on the south side of the Sweetwater River.

Three Crossings on the Sweetwater River, so called because the trail crossed the stream three times within ¼ mile. Located 14 miles from Split Rock Station and 12 miles from Ice Springs Station south of the Sweetwater River. A telegraph and stage station of the 1860′s, it was to this station in 1860 that Bill Cody, 15 year-old Pony Express carrier, rode from Red Buttes on the Platte, 76 miles away. There he found that the rider of the 85-miles stretch to Rocky Ridge had been killed.

Bishop and Henderson, as well as the mail contract of 1861, identify Ice Slough or Ice Springs as a C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. station between Three Crossings and Warm Springs. Other sources do not list the slough as a station, but they mention its nearly year-round ice as a well-known landmark. Franzwa locates Ice Spring and Ice Slough separately in his Oregon Trail maps, but he does not list either site as a Pony Express station. (NPS)

Several sources identify Warm Springs as a station and Gregory Franzwa specifically names Warm Springs as a Pony Express site. He locates it on the Seminoe Cutoff from the Oregon Trail. (NPS)

Located 12 miles from Ice Springs Station and 12 miles from Rocky Ridge Station (St. Mary’s Station) above the warm sulphur springs.
(Expedition Utah)

Located 12 miles from Warm Springs Station and 12 miles from Rock Creek Station on east side of Silver Creek. Known by many as St. Mary’s Station. This was a Home Station and William Reid was Station Tender. The site of St. Mary’s Stage Station, also called Rocky Ridge Station because of a cliff near by, is marked with a stone tablet. The station was built in 1859 by Russell, Majors and Waddell, and when the transcontinental telegraph line was established in 1861, St. Mary’s was made a depot.

Several sources list Rock Creek as a station, which also appears on the 1861 contract. However, these sources disagree about its exact location. Bishop and Henderson place the station between Rocky Ridge (after Warm Springs) and Upper Sweetwater/South Pass. Since Franzwa also places a Pony Express station named Strawberry Station between Rocky Ridge and Upper Sweetwater, it was probably the same site. The Settles identify Rock Creek as a station between Warm Springs and South Pass, while Pierson lists it between St. Mary's and Rocky Ridge.

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)

This site is reportedly about three miles east of Alexandria, in Jefferson County. Sources generally agree about its identity as a Pony Express station, with stagecoaches stopping there as well. Dan Patterson owned and operated the site as a home station until 1860, when he sold it to Asa and John Latham. History also associates the Daniel Ranch, a post office, and the Ed Farrell Ranch with the Big Sandy Station. (NPS)

Note: The location mapped is the Alexandria State Recreation Area, about 3 miles east of Alexandria

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

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.

Note: Point plotted at the Plum Creek Massacre Cemetery site

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

Note: Point plotted about 3 miles south of Gothenburg

Note: Point plotted on the Oregon Trail Road between Sutherland and Hershey

Note: Point plotted about 1 mile west of Brule on Hwy 30

The site of Diamond Springs Station was probably about a mile west of Brule, in Keith County, Nebraska. (NPS)

Pacific Springs is identified as a station in several sources. Located approximately two miles west of the Continental Divide, Pacific Springs served as a relay station for both stage lines and the Pony Express. Franzwa lists Pacific Springs in his Oregon Trail maps, but he does not identify it as any type of station. The British traveler, Richard Burton, in his narrative mentioned that the stage road crossed Pacific Creek two miles below Pacific Springs, and no doubt Pony Express riders followed the same path. (NPS)

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.

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.

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.