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.
Stations were set up at Simpson Park, just east of the sub-basin, and Jacobs Springs, about 2 miles east of Reese River. The latter station was named after Washington Jacobs, district agent in charge there; Jacobsville, the first town in the sub-basin grew up at the station. After Jacobsville was abandoned as the Lander county seat in favor of Austin in 1863, the stage station there was moved 2 miles westward, to the east bank of Reese River.
The Overland Stage and Mail Company used this as a way stop at least until the discovery at Austin in May 1862.
After Simpson Springs is the River Bed Pony Express Station, which lies on the floor of the ancient Sevier River bed formed by evaporation of Lake Bonneville, that drained from the area of Garfield County into Lake Bonneville. The water contained in the northern portion of the great inland sea had a greater surface than the southern portion. Consequently more evaporation occurred in the northern part. Water seeks its own level and in this case, the water was squeezed into a low channel between two mountain ranges on the east and west.
This was one of the original Pony Express stations built in the spring of 1860. It is difficult to say whether Bolivar Roberts or Howard Egan built Robert’s Creek. Some accounts say Bolivar Roberts and his crew built stations as far east as Robert’s Creek. However, Burton says Robert’s Creek was the western most extent of Egan’s division. It seems that the station was still intact around May, 1860. After this time it is thought that the station was destroyed by Indians and Bolivar Roberts set out to rebuild destroyed stations and restock them.
Sources generally agree about the identity of this site as a relay station, but they do not concur about its exact location. In 1859, David McCandles or McCanles erected a toll bridge and log structure, which later served as the relay station, on the east side of the creek. The hewn-log building had an outside-accessible attic and stone fireplace and measured 36 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 8 feet high at the eaves.The Rock Creek Station has an interesting history.
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.
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.
Most sources acknowledge Ruby Valley as a Pony Express station. The station began in 1859 as part of George Chorpenning's mail route and later served the Pony Express and Overland Mail Company line. William "Uncle Billy" Rogers and Frederick William Hurst managed station operations at Ruby Valley. Rogers served as stationkeeper when Richard Burton visited the site on October 7, 1860. When Burton visited the station, it was considered a half-way point between Salt Lake City and the Carson Valley.
This site is probably located one and one-half miles south of Kenesaw. Sand Hill and Summit remain the most popular names for this probable relay station and stage stop, but sources also identify it as Water Hole and Fairfield. . Apparently, in 1864, the station was destroyed by Indians and ended all stagecoach use of the station.(NPS)
Note: The mapped point is Kenesaw
About 20 miles east of Fallon on US 50 an unimproved road leads to Sand Mountain and Sand Springs Pony Express Station. The station has a number of interpretive signs. In March of’ 1860 Bolivar Roberts, J.G. Kelley and others built the station. James McNaughton was station keeper for a while before he became a rider.
Sources generally agree on the identity of Schell Creek, also known later as Schellbourne or Fort Schellboure. George Chorpenning and Howard Egan established a station at the site in late 1859, which served the Pony Express during its existence and the Overland Mail Company line until 1869. English traveler Richard Burton stopped at Schell Creek on October 5, 1860, and identified Francais de France Constant Dubail as stationkeeper at the bullet-scarred log structure. Several months earlier, on June 8, 1860, Indians attacked the station.
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)
Sources generally agree about Seneca Station's location and identity as an early Pony Express home station, also known as the the Smith Hotel. John Smith managed station operations at the hotel, located on the corner of present-day Fourth and Main Streets. Smith entered the hotel business in 1858, and his two- story white hotel also served as a restaurant, school, and residence. Additional sources also identify Seneca as an overland stage station. (NPS)
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.
Located on private land approximately 15 miles NE of Austin. This was one of the original Pony Express stations having been built in the spring of 1860. This area was named for Captain J.H. Simpson who first visited here on May 27, 1859 and spent the night in the vicinity. Simpson Park was probably used by the Overland Mail and Stage Line from July 1861 to 1862 or 1863, when the run was changed to go through Austin.
Simpson’s Springs/Egan’s Springs/Lost Springs Station (N40 02 22.0 W112 47 15.3)
About 11 A.M. we set off to cross the ten miles of valley that stretched between us and the summit of the western divide still separating us from Carson Lake. The land was a smooth saleratus plain, with curious masses of porous red and black basalt protruding from a ghastly white. The water-shed was apparently to the north, the benches were distinctly marked, and the bottom looked as if it were inundated every year.
Remains of this station are on the present day Smith Creek Ranch located 14 miles north of State Highway 2 on the east side of the Desatoya Mountains. There is one adobe building with a willow thatch roof and a second building with one section of adobe and another section of rock also with a thatch roof. The first building has been identified as the location of the corral. The adobe section of the second building is the original Pony Express Station house.
Sources refer to this site as either Upper Sweetwater or South Pass Station but generally they agree on its identity as a station. Two French-Canadians managed station operations at South Pass, near the Continental Divide. Franzwa indicates South Pass in his Oregon Trail maps and specifically identifies Upper Sweetwater Pony Express Station several miles northeast of the pass. (NPS)
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.
This site may have been positioned in Clay County. [91] Since the 1861 mail contract did not list Spring Ranch as a stopping point, the positive identification of Spring Ranch as a Pony Express station remains controversial. Its location between two known distant stations, Liberty Farm and Thirty-Two Mile Creek, would have made Spring Ranch a convenient place for riders to change horses.
Though Spring Valley Station was not listed on the 1861 mail contract as a station, and its exact location remains unknown, sources generally agree on its identity as a Pony Express station. This station did not exist when Richard Burton traveled through the area on October 5, 1860, however, the Pony Express did stop at a site somewhere in the valley. Constant Dubail or a man named Reynal possibly served as stationkeepers at Spring Valley. When Pony Express rider Elijah N. "Uncle Nick" Wilson stopped at the station for something to eat, he found two young boys managing operations.
Several sources identify Stillwater or Still Water as a potential Pony Express station. This station also began about July 1861 as part of the Overland Mail Company stage line and the telegraph route. The Pony Express may also have stopped at the station during the last several months of its existence. Ranchers kept the station and the neighboring mining areas well-supplied with beef, grain, and hay. In 1868, before the mail and telegraph operations transferred to the Central Pacific Railroad, Stillwater served as the county seat and had 100 residents.
Sulphur Springs is commonly listed as a Pony Express Station. However, it could not have been one of the original stations built in the spring of 1860. In reviewing the literature, there is no mention of this station prior to the Overland Stage and Mail Express maps of 1863. Sulphur Springs was probably built in July of 1861 to facilitate the opening of the Overland Stage. Since it was on, or at least near, the Pony Express Route it was probably used as a way station for horse changes from the time of the station’s inception to the demise of the Pony.
Located 12 miles from Horse Creek Station, 6 miles from Devil’s Gate Station and 12 miles from Plant’s Station on north bank of the Sweetwater River and just south of the old Emigrant Road. Independence Rock is about one mile west. (Expedition Utah)