Pony Express National Historic Trail
Details: It is hard to believe that young men once rode horses to carry mail from Missouri to California in the unprecedented time of only 10 days. This relay system along the Pony Express National Historic Trail in eight states was the most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph.
Due to the length of the Pony Express National Historic Trail, be sure to consult local weather sources for the region you'll be visiting. Check out the forecast with the National Weather Service and search for the area you'd like to visit: weather.gov
Directions: You can visit many sites of the Pony Express National Historic Trail over the 1,800-mile historic route that crosses 8 states.
1864 Indian Raids
The 1864 Uprising was a series of American Indian raids made by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes in an attempt to drive emigrants from their lands. A Nebraska State Historical Society interpretive marker provides more information about these raids. There is also a granite marker a half mile to the mile north across the Little Blue River. From the state marker, look east toward the hillside to see a series of parallel wagon ruts heading toward your location. These wagon ruts, which are on private property, are remnants of the Oregon Trail.
The sign reads, "1864 Indian Raids. During the Civil War, many regular troops were withdrawn from Plains military posts to fight in the east. The Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho, seizing this opportunity, attempted to drive white settlers from their land.
Beginning on August 7, 1864, the Indians made concerted attacks on stage stations and ranches along the Oregon Trail, hitting nearly every settlement for 400 miles from Julesburg to Big Sandy. Travel ceased for two months.
The most severe attacks were along the upper Little Blue River where about 100 people were killed. Several died at Oak Grove, but others escaped and Pawnee Ranch was successfully defended. At 'the Narrows' the Eubanks families were attacked and seven killed. Mrs. Eubanks, two children and Miss Laura Roper were taken prisoner and held captive for months. Teamsters were killed, wagon trains burned and ranches were smashed or burned. Settlers fled east to Beatrice and Marysville or northwest to Fort Kearny on the Platte for protection. Troops and local militia companies attacked and drove back the Indians in the battle of the Little Blue on August 17, 1864. Major raids ceased but skirmishes continued through the fall."
Site Information
Location (State Highway 14 near Nelson, Nebraska)
Safety Considerations
A Second Cliff-face Billboard
A second Cliff-face Billboard is painted on the rock wall at the base of the Steamboat Rocks. One of the ads promotes Salt Lake House, a stagecoach stop and comfortable hotel on downtown Salt Lake City’s Main Street.
Site Information
Location (On Echo Canyon Road, about one mile from the 1-80 Echo Interchange.)
Pull into the turnout marked by Summit County tour sign No. 4. Look on the right, at the foot of the Steamboat Rocks, to see the faded billboard.
Safety Considerations
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Administration Building Ruins (1885)
Headquarters and the post school were moved here in 1885. Concerts, religious services, dances, plays, and lectures were held here in the post theater.
Alexander Majors House
Situated on the border between Missouri and Kansas, the Alexander Majors house was home to both the Majors family and one of his freighting companies called Russell, Majors, and Waddell.[1] The company was a venture with merchants William H. Russell and William B. Waddell who joined Majors in an attempt to gain a government contract to supply western forts.[2] Already an experienced Santa Fe Trail dealer, Majors had the knowledge and equipment, while Russell and Waddell had the capital, to secure the government contract. For a short time, the company had a “virtual monopoly of the army freighting business in the west and southwest.”[3]
The 300-acre farmstead was dissected by the westernmost US border, making part of the property outside US jurisdiction and, thus, untaxable. The company’s barns, mule sheds, grazing lands, wagon and blacksmith shops, and other business-related entities were located on the portion of property located in the Kansas Territory.[4] A caravan camp was used to load the heavy freight wagons which would travel the trails.[5]
The home was built in 1856, most likely using the labor of enslaved people.[6] The “T” shaped floorplan with recessed front porch makes it a unique iteration of the Greek revival style in Kansas City.[7] Today, it is one of the oldest buildings in Kansas City, as one of only 4 pre-Civil War buildings left standing.[8] Though the house remains, many of the other original structures are gone and the land has been divided into distinct plots. Among the lost structures were living quarters for the 16-17 people enslaved by the Majors’.[9]
In 1930 Louisa P. Johnston, Majors’s great grand-daughter, travelled to visit her ancestral home and found the house abandoned. She bought the house in 1932 and, for the next forty years, worked to preserve the property. In 1984 the Alexanders Majors House Museum was opened to the public for tours and events. In 2010 the house partnered with the John Wornall House and Museum to create one nonprofit dedicated to preserving both properties.
Site Information
Location (8201 State Line Road (east side of road near 85th Street), Kansas City)
Safety Considerations
[1] Marc Simmons, Following the Santa Fe Trail: A Guide for Modern Travelers (Santa Fe, NM: Ancient City Press, 1984), p. 61.
[2] Martha Kusiak, “Alexander Majors House,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form. Jefferson City: Missouri State Park Board, 1970. Retrieved from National Archives Catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63819493#.XzbZ-YDvsb0.link
[3] Kusiak, “Alexander Majors House,” p. 9.
[4] “The Majors House,” Wornall Majors House Museums, accessed August 14, 2020.
[5] Simmons, Following the Santa Fe Trail, p. 62.
[6] “The Majors House.”
[7] Kusiak, “Alexander Majors House,” p. 11.
[8] “The Majors House.”
[9] “The Majors House.”
B.F. Hastings Building
Pony Express California No. 21 “Western Terminus” Home Station
The Pony Express route follows J Street, passing through the city of Sacramento, heading directly to the B. F. Hastings Building, which was the western terminus for the Pony Express during most of its existence. Express mail bound for San Francisco usually reached its destination on the ferry Antelope. Old Sacramento includes two Pony Express historic sites - the B.F. Hastings Building and a Pony Express statue. Other points of interest are found along the urban corridor, which is well marked.
Site Information
Location (Corner of 2nd & J Streets Sacramento CA)
It now houses a museum dedicated to the history of Wells Fargo, and is part of Old Sacramento State Historic Park.
Safety Considerations
Bessemer Bend National Historic Site
Bessemer Bend National Historic Site , also known as Red Buttes Crossing, is one of the places where travelers forded the North Platte River, then 300 yards wide, for the last time and started the push toward the Sweetwater River. This crossing was used mostly in the early years of the emigration. After 1847, ferries were available between Casper and Glenrock (Deer Creek). The Red Buttes Pony Express station and an Overland Stage station also were located in this vicinity. Wayside exhibits along a short interpretive trail at this Bureau of Land Management site tell the story. While visiting the site, look towards the east to see the Red Buttes, the noted emigrant-era landmark that gave the crossing its name.
Site Information
Location (south of Casper, Wyoming)
Directions
Travel 8.1 miles south of Casper from CY Ave./Wyoming Blvd. intersection on WYO-220, turn right and take the Bessemer Bend Road west for 2.1 miles to the bridge.
Available Facilities
There is a Bureau of Land Management interpretive site at the crossing. This site has a parking area, picnic tables, a vault toilet and an interpretive trail. It is a non-fee area and is ADA accessible.
Safety Considerations
Big Mountain Pass
Big Mountain Pass provided emigrants their first happy glimpse of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. But reaching the valley required a hair-raising descent: wagons, with high centers of gravity, could not switchback down unimproved side-hill slopes for fear of toppling over and crashing down the mountainside. Also, oxen cannot balance nor wagons brake effectively when traveling “sidling” along a hill. Most emigrants locked their wheels with chains and skidded their wagons straight down the mountainside.
Walk to the edge of the parking area and look west to see the grand view once shared by emigrants on the Hastings Cutoff and Mormon Pioneer Trail. Now look at the ground beyond the edge of the parking area. The deep scars that dive straight down the mountain are wagon ruts, gouged into the earth by skidding, iron-sheathed wheels and deepened by years of erosion. Today’s UT-65 twists and turns down the mountain, crossing and recrossing the old trail scar. Watch for those crossings, marked with signs, as you continue along the highway.
The Big Mountain Pass rest area is on the left side of the road 5.4 miles past the turnoff for Jeremy Ranch Road. Hikers and bikers on the Little Emigration Canyon recreation
trail will enter from the north side of the rest area.
A second segment of the hike-and-bike trail begins on the south side of the Big Mountain Pass parking area west of the restroom. This trail approximates the pioneer route down the mountain for about 2.7 miles to Affleck Park and then continues another 2.7 miles to the north end of Little Dell Reservoir. Hikers and bikers can make private arrangements for pick-up at either location. Along the way, the trail intersects UT-65 at an uncontrolled crossing on a hairpin curve with limited visibility; use caution when crossing the highway.
Site Information
Location (Emigration Canyon, Utah; The Big Mountain Pass rest area is on the left side of the road 5.4 miles past the turnoff for Jeremy Ranch Road.)
Safety Considerations
Broad Hollow
Before Broad Hollow, wagons followed Dixie Hollow, the ravine to the right side of today’s paved road. The hollow bristled with brush and its boulder-choked bottom was too narrow for wagons to pass. The Donner-Reed wagon party grubbed a dangerous sideling trail along the sloping bank before dropping, exhausted, into their first camp beyond the Weber River. Mormon pioneers improved the rough track, but despite their efforts, many wagons over the years tumbled sideways off the trail. Dixie Hollow narrows and becomes impassable to wagons.
Broad Hollow, which drains into Dixie Hollow near the Donner-Reed campsite of August 11, provided a detour around the Dixie Hollow chokepoint. The pioneers veered northwest up Broad Hollow, turned west across a wide bench, and then dropped south again to East Canyon Creek and through today’s East Canyon State Park.
A monument marks the location where pioneers turned west. Some researchers think the two-track to the right of the monument may be the original trail alignment, but it might be a more recent ranch road.
Site Information
Location (Southwest of Henefer, Utah)
Safety Considerations
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Camp Floyd State Park
Pony Express Utah No. 13 Contract Station (Camp Floyd – John Carson’s Inn / Fort Crittenden / Fairfield / Cedar City)
Camp Floyd, established in 1858, was named for the secretary of war and commanded by Albert S. Johnston. It was the first military installation built in present-day Utah and formed the state's third largest community.
At the time of the Pony Express, Camp Floyd provided troops for protection against Indian attacks and served to keep the trail open for the Pony Express, stage lines, and other travelers. The Pony Express Station was a small adobe building that stood several hundred feet northeast of John Carson's Inn.
Though the Pony Express station has long since disappeared, the Inn still stands as the centerpiece of today's state park. The Inn has been restored and is open for visitation, the commissary building serves as a visitor center, and there is an interpretive wayside exhibit in the picnic area.
Site Information
Location (18035 W 1540 N, Cedar Valley, UT 84013)
Safety Considerations
Captain's Quarters
Planned as the Commanding Officer's quarters, this building became a duplex for company-grade officers.
Carson City, Nevada
Carson City is rooted in the history of the California and Pony Express Trails, which both pass through the town that was founded in the 1850s. Explore the architecture in the historic district, learn more about the history and take a step back in time on the trails.
Site Information
Location (Carson City, Nevada, near the border with California)
Safety Considerations
Cavalry Barracks (1874)
Fort Laramie's largest building was built to add housing during the Indian Wars. Soldiers slept in two large squad bays upstairs. The kitchen and mess room were downstairs.
Chimney Rock National Historic Site
Visible for miles, Chimney Rock was more than a wonder of nature. It was also a significant landmark in measuring the emigrants' progress west. This natural feature was a "grand and splendid object" to emigrants who had never seen the geology of the American West. As they traveled alongside the North Platte River, they peered eagerly ahead for their first view of the rock. As such, it was mentioned in more emigrant diaries than any other landmark on the Oregon Trail!
Emigrant Remarks
On June 27, 1849, Elisha Perkins was humbled and awed by his visit to this remarkable curiosity when me wrote,
". . . camped opposite to & about 1 mile from Chimney Rock. I had some curiosity to see this . . . Imagine a pyramid standing alone though surrounded by rocky precipices some 150 feet high & at its base 20 feet through . . . No conception can be formed of the magnitude of this grand work of nature until you stand at its base & look up. If a man does not feel like an insect then I don't know when he should."
Site Information
Location (1.5 miles south of Highway 92 on Chimney Rock Road near Bayard, Nebraska)
The Nebraska State Historical Society now manages Chimney Rock as part of a historic site. Viewing the rock is available from several places, including from the site's visitor center. This center houses a museum with interpretive and interactive exhibits about this natural feature and the emigrant trails. It also contains a small theater with a video presentation about the great migration West and a bookstore. Modest admission is charged.
Safety Considerations
Cold Springs Pony Express Station
"I kept a bright lookout, and closely watched every motion of my poor pony's ears, which is a signal for danger in an Indian country. I was prepared for a fight, but the stillness of the night and the howling of the wolves and coyotes made cold chills run through me at times." Pony Bob Haslam, on his ride from Cold Springs to Sand Springs (Nevada) in May 1860.
Accounts mention numerous Pony riders who were killed during the outbreak of the Pyramid Lake War with the Paiutes in 1860, but multiple sources may be referring to the same unnamed rider and some stories were clearly made up. So far, only three rider fatalities at the hands of warriors are securely documented including that of a Hispanic rider. The Hispanic rider was Jose Zowgaltz, who was ambushed as he crossed the thick aspen bottoms of Edwards Creek. Zowgaltz galloped to Cold Springs Station, south of the ambush site. Suffering a mortal abdominal wound, he slipped bleeding from his saddle upon entering the station and soon died. The rider's death was recorded by assistant station keeper J.G. Kelley, who had to ride Zowgaltz's return relay two days later. Kelley raced his pony through the leafy green tunnel of aspens "like a streak of greased lightning" and once clear, paused to look back. The bushes along the trail trembled suspiciously; Kelley suspected they concealed warriors who had been unable to get a clear shot at him.
Intact, standing ruins of the Cold Springs Pony Express Station where Jose Zowgaltz died still remain. Viewing the site requires a two-mile round-trip hike on loose dirt through open sagebrush plains (where one is exposed to the elements) starting from Cold Springs Day-Use Area. Click on this link, A Socially Distance Excursion to Original Pony Express Stations in Nevada, to view a partial travel log and pictures for Cold Springs Station. If you visit, also stop at the ruins of Cold Springs No. 2 Pony Express Station. It’s just 0.2 miles further west on U.S. Route 50 from the day-use area. The station switched locations in July 1861 to accommodate the Overland Mail & Stage Company.
Cold Springs Station is a National Park Service Vanishing Treasure. When visiting, please respect the site and do not climb on or disturb the ruins. This is critical for preserving the site and for providing the opportunity to experience the site, as you have experienced it, to other people.
Site Information
Location (South side of U.S. Route 50 about 50 miles west of Austin, NV and 60 miles east of Fallon, NV.)
Available Facilities
The day-use area consists of a gravel parking lot, wayside exhibits, vault toilets and the Cold Springs Pony Express Station Trailhead. At the station ruins are wayside exhibits that tell the story of the station and describe its layout.
Safety Considerations
Commissary Storehouse
This lime-concrete building served as a food warehouse for the army. It now houses park offices and the visitor center.
Courthouse and Jail Rocks
Courthouse and Jail Rocks are massive monoliths made of Brule clay and Gering sandstone. Over time, wind and water erosion slowly sculpted the rocks into their current courthouse or castle appearance. The rocks were first noted by Robert Stuart in 1812 and quickly became guiding landmarks for fur traders and emigrants. Travelers on the south side of the Platte river had a close-up view of these celebrated landmarks, which made them a popular item for emigrants to write about and sketch in their diaries.
Today, the rocks are open to the public. Reaching them requires traveling on an unpaved road that is suitable for most vehicles when dry. At the end of the road is a hiking trail that leads to Courthouse Rock. Note, this trail used to lead to the top of the rock, but large sections of the trail have since eroded away. Use extreme caution when hiking. Open year-round, daylight hours. No tourist facilities at the site nor staff presence.
Emigrant Remarks
In November of 1841, Rufus B. Sage recorded,
"A singular natural formation, known as the Court House, or McFarlan's Castle . . . rises in an abrupt quadrilangular form, to a height of three or four hundred feet, and covers an area of two hundred yards in length by one hundred and fifty broad. Occupying a perfectly level site in an open prairie, it stands as the proud palace of Solitude, amid here boundless domains. Its position commands a view of the country for forty miles around and meets the eye of the traveler for several successive days, in journeying up the Platte."
Site Information
Location (five miles south of Bridgeport, Nebraska on Highway 88)
Safety Considerations
Death's Rock
This site is named for a fatal incident that occurred when a Mormon militiaman, during horseplay, shot and killed a fellow militiaman who was standing on the rocky crag. The victim was the only Mormon to die in the 1857 troubles between Utah Territory and the federal government. (The only U.S. Army death, which occurred in Wyoming, resulted from a heart attack.)
Site Information
Location (Echo Canyon, Utah)
Traveling southwest (toward Echo), look for a turnout on the right marked by Summit County’s brown tour sign No. 5. Standing at the sign, turn around and look back up the canyon in the direction of Wyoming. The outcrop where the death occurred is on the left (west) side of the road.
Safety Considerations
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Defensive Breastworks, the Mormon Pioneer Trail
Before modern highways were built, this segment of Echo Canyon was narrow, forcing wagon traffic to travel single-file. For the Mormon militia, this seemed a strategic location to stop or delay approaching federal troops. Defensive Breastworks (Echo Canyon) positioned along the rim of the cliff to the right are barely visible in several places from the canyon floor. Mormon militiamen, fearing an attack on Salt Lake City by the U.S. Army, built the low rubble walls above the emigrant road in 1857. The breastworks would protect the defenders as they fired down on approaching federal troops. Because they are made of local sandstone from the cliffs and were meant to be unobtrusive, the structures can be difficult to see.
Site Information
Location (Echo Canyon, Utah)
Pull into a turnout on the right side of the road to view a large wooden sign that describes the Mormon defense preparations in Echo Canyon. Continue to the next turnout, 1/4 mile beyond, and pause at Summit County’s brown tour sign No. 7 for Billboard Bluff. From the turnout, look up at the base of the cliff face to see 19th century roadside advertisements painted directly onto the rock. (These are unassociated with the Utah War.)
Travel 1/10 mile, watching for brown Summit County tour sign No. 6 on the left. From the tour-stop sign, face the cliff to the right of the road and look along the rim to see a low stone wall. Then turn and look east across the freeway to the bluffs on the opposite side of the canyon. Just below the alignment of telephone poles that crosses the slope, a faint horizontal line in the earth is sometimes visible, depending on the quality of the light and vegetation. The line is what remains of a defensive trench dug by the Mormon militia. Approaching federal troops were to be caught in crossfire from between the cliff-top breastworks and the entrenchment.
Safety Considerations
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Devil's Gate Interpretive Site
Devil's Gate is a 370 feet deep, 1,500 feet long, and only 50 feet wide canyon that was created by the Sweetwater River when it cut through a ridge of solid rock. Many an emigrant wrote diary comments about this geological oddity. They walked and waded in the Sweetwater River through the gorge, while their wagons followed the trail through the pass to the east. The emigrants puzzled, why would the water chew directly through the rock instead of flowing around it?
Site Information
Location (Martin's Cove, 47600 West Hwy 220, Alcova, Wyoming)
Today's visitors can ponder that question at a Bureau of Land Management pullout on the north side of the highway. The pullout has an ADA paved walkway, interpretive exhibits, and a restroom. For a closer look at Devil's Gate, continue west to the Mormon Handcart Visitor Center.
Safety Considerations
Devil's Gate- Mormon Handcart Visitor Center
The Mormon Handcart Historic Site & Visitor Center, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is open to the public. Handcarts were not used by the initial 1847 Mormon expedition led by Brigham Young, but, rather, came later in the Trail's history. Thousands of emigrants on the Oregon and California trails shared the path with these handcarts.
Site Information
Location (Martin's Cove, 47600 West Hwy 220, Alcova, Wyoming)
You can experience handcart travel by using one of the visitor center's handcarts (no charge) to travel the site's trails. In addition, the visitor center contains several exhibits that tell the Mormon story and the emigrant trail story. Overnight camping and free tours are available. Also found at the site is Martin's Cove, the place where 500 Mormons took shelter from a deadly blizzard in 1856. The cove is reached by following a three to four mile round-trip hiking trail.
Safety Considerations
Donner Hill
Donner HIll hammered yet another nail into the Donner-Reed coffin. For 12 days the emigrants had gnawed a track through the rugged Wasatch wilderness, and now, at the very edge of the Salt Lake Valley, limestone outcrops and dense willows blocked their exit from the mouth of Emigration Canyon. The discouraged travelers pulled to the left out of the creek bottom and up the 200-foot-high ridge that thereafter would bear their name. The effort nearly used up the strength of their oxen. The next year Brigham Young’s vanguard pioneer party, having more men for the labor, opened a road through the blockage, avoiding the hill climb, in just 4 hours’ time. The current roadbed approximates their route.
Today, Emigration Canyon is widened and the top of Donner Hill has been leveled to make room for residential development. But the hill is still impressive and Emigration Creek, edged by willow and scrub oak, still runs along the south side of Emigration Canyon Road. Visitors can easily envision how this spot looked in 1846-47.
The evening of their arrival on July 22, the Donner-Reed Party encamped a short distance beyond the hilltop with the broad Salt Lake Valley stretched at their feet. A grassy park along the ridge, adjacent to Crestview Drive, is named Donner Park in commemoration of that campsite. The next day the emigrants descended the ridge and traveled across the valley to the Jordan River. From there, the Donner Reed Party continued along the south shore of the Great Salt Lake.
Site Information
Location (Emigration Canyon, near Rotary Glen Park)
On the right at odometer mile 20 is another small sign for Donner Hill. A stone monument commemorating Donner Hill is on the left where the road curves to the south. At that location the hill is in front of you, easy to see, with a condominium at the top. Use caution when crossing the oncoming lane to enter or leave the widened road shoulder at the monument. Then continue down Emigration Canyon Road around the S-curve. If traffic permits, turn left at odometer mile 20.6 into an unmarked entrance for Rotary Glen Park. If you miss the entrance, turn left onto the next paved road, Crestview Drive, and turn around at a safe location to return to the intersection. Turn right and make an immediate right turn into Rotary Glen Park. Now go left across the parking lot and follow the dirt access road to the east. End at a gravel parking lot.
Look across the small reservoir toward Donner Hill, the ridge to the northeast. The emigrants ascended the ridge on the north side of the condominiums. From this vantage, the steepness of the climb is evident. Take the opportunity here or at the picnic area to the west to explore Emigration Creek.
Safety Considerations
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Echo Canyon Road
Echo Canyon Road evolved from an Indian trail into a wagon road, an early automobile highway (the Old Lincoln Highway), and a federal highway (U.S.-30). Today it is a narrow, winding frontage road. Proceed slowly and be prepared to stop along the road shoulder to view the historical features described in the entries below. Many of these historic features are on private land; please observe them from the public right-of-way.
Site Information
Location (Leave westbound I-80 at Exit 178, Emory)
A more detailed, full-color guide to all of the historic sites along Echo Canyon Road is available free from the Summit County Historical Society. Numbered brown signposts along Echo Canyon Road correspond to the Summit County historic sites guide. Also along this stretch of road are numbered red, white, and blue signposts that correspond to a separate Lincoln Highway tour guide. Copies of both guides are available from the Summit County Courthouse at 60 North Main Street in Coalville, Utah, about 8 miles south of Echo on I-80 (Exit 162). To request copies by mail, call (435) 336-3015.
Safety Considerations
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Elko Hot Hole
The hot spring in front of you is known as Hot Hole, named after its round and reportedly deep shape. This geologic wonder has been known about longer than Elko has been a town! It was noted in reports, dated as early as the 1830s, by explorers that passed through the area. Later, emigrants and miners following the same paths, which were now known as the California Trail, wrote about the Hot Hole in their journals.
They also wrote about the other hot springs they discovered that are less than a quarter mile from here. To the south, and up the hill, lies Elko Hot Springs, a cluster of springs that was the site of a resort in the late 1800s. To the northeast of the Hot Hole, on the banks of the Humboldt River, lies another three hot springs. They are positioned in an east to west line, forming a ribbon of springs. None of these “ribbon” hot springs are named, but all of them, and Elko Hot Springs, were visited by California Trail travelers.
Site Information
Location (Currently, Elko Hot Springs is located on private property. Respect this and do not enter without permission from the landowner. The cluster of unnamed hot springs has neither directions to them nor their locations marked. Also, some of the land is private property. For information about these springs, contact the California Trail Interpretive Center.)
Safety Considerations
Faust's Pony Express Station
Pony Express Utah No. 15 Home Station ( Bush Valley / Rush Valley / Meadow Creek / Faust / Meady Creek)
Fike and Headley place this station eight and three-fourths miles from East Rush Valley. The 1861 mail contract probably mistakenly identified this station as Bush Valley. 17 Other sources list the stone station as Rush Valley, Bush Valley, Faust's, Doc Faust's, and Meadow Creek.
George Chorpenning erected the station in 1858. Henry J. "Doc" Faust later purchased the land as a ranch and raised horses for the Pony Express and later military operations. Faust served as stationkeeper during the Pony Express era and lived on the land until 1870, when he moved to Salt Lake City and went into the livery business. Kate B. Carter identifies Rush Valley as the first home station west of Salt Lake City and notes that the valley and station received their names from a body of water lined with bullrushes in the north end of the valley.
As late as 1978, the stone station house and a cemetery still existed on private land. A misplaced marker also stands north of the site.
Site Information
Location (Near Vernon Utah, 40.1741, -112.4273)
Safety Considerations
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Folsom Museum
The Folsom Museum is located near the Pony Express and California National Historic Trail in Folsom, California. The museum has exhibits on early California history, including Gold Rush era and the Pony Express.
Site Information
Location (823 Sutter St, Folsom, CA 95630)
Safety Considerations
Fort Bridger State Historic Site
Jim Bridger established Fort Bridger in 1843 as a fur trading post. It was composed of two double-log houses about 40 feet long that were joined by a pen for horses. The fort soon became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails and expanded in size. In 1857, during the Utah War, Mormons set fire to the fort to prevent the U.S. Army from using it. However, the army rebuilt the fort a year later and used it as a military post until 1890. In the 1860s, it also served as a Pony Express station.
Today's Fort Bridger State Park contains 37 acres of grounds, 27 historic structures, and four historic replica structures. The park offers self-guided tours of the fort, living history demonstrations, open archeological excavations, museum exhibits, and a civilian cemetery.
Site Information
Location (Fort Bridger, Wyoming)
Safety Considerations
Fort Caspar
Pony Express Wyoming No. 15 Contract Station
(North Platte/Platte Bridge/Casper)
In 1859, Louis Guinard built a trading post and a bridge near the point where the Mormon Pioneer Company crossed the North Platte River in 1847.This station was used as an overnight stage stop, where Richard Burton spent the night on August 16, 1860.
"Our station lay near the upper crossing or second bridge, a short distance from the town. It was also built of timber at an expense of $40,000 about a year ago by Louis Guenot. . . . It was impossible to touch the squaw's supper: the tin cans that contained the coffee were slippery with grease, and the bacon looked as if it had been dressed side-by-side with 'boyaux'."
The Pony Express also established a station at this complex. Pony riders crossed the North Platte River on Guinard's Bridge, but the route stayed close to the north bank of the river until reaching Red Buttes Crossing, where another Pony Express station was located. In 1862, Lt. Col. William O. Collins sent one company of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry to protect the telegraph line at "Guinard's Bridge." The soldiers moved into Guinard's station complex, and named the garrison "Platte Bridge Station."
The post was renamed in honor of Lieutenant Caspar Collins after his death in the Battle of Platte Bridge in 1865. The fort continued to protect emigrant trails and the transcontinental telegraph line until it closed in 1867. All salvageable materials were transferred and used to build Fort Fetterman.
Site Information
Location (4001 Fort Caspar Rd, Casper, Wyoming)
A 1936 reconstruction of the fort is furnished as it was in 1865. Fort Caspar Museum is operated by the City of Casper. Visitors can explore the fort buildings, reconstructions of the Mormon ferry and a section of the Guinard Bridge, and interpretive exhibits in the museum.
Safety Considerations
Fort Churchill State Historic Park
Pony Express Nevada No. 32 Home Station (used after Indian Wars started)
An integral part of the history of Nevada and the American West, Fort Churchill was built in 1860 to provide protection for early settlers and westbound emigrants and guard the Pony Express and telegraph lines. Today the ruins are preserved in a state of arrested decay within Fort Churchill State Historic Park, and visitors can walk designated trails to observe the ruins. The park also includes the renovated Buckland Station, an important way station in the 1800s for pioneer travelers on the Overland Route. Situated along the Carson River, the park is an idyllic place for camping, hiking, bird watching and canoeing.
Site Information
Location (10000 Hwy 95A, Silver Springs, NV 89429)
Safety Considerations
Fort Kearny State Historical Park
Fort Kearny was the first Western military post built to protect emigrants on the trails west, and it later served as the headquarters for a number of small outposts along the emigrant trails. This military post was strategically located at a junction where various eastern feeder trails merged into one. This broad and vast single trail followed the Platte River 330 miles west to Fort Laramie. Fort Kearny was also a place where emigrants could resupply and a Pony Express station.
Emigrant Remarks
J. Goldsborough Bruff recorded his impressions on June 17, 1849,
"I visited the Fort . . . . This place is as yet merely the site of an intended fort; it has some adobe embankments, quarters of adobe & frame, and a number of tents & sheds. Is on the bank of the Platte, where Grand Island makes a narrow branch of the river between it and the shore."
Site Information
Location (Southeast of Kearney, Nebraska)
Today, the park offers an interpretive center with trail-era artifacts, exhibits on the fort's history, uses over the years, and its residents. In addition, there are 40 acres of grounds with walking paths and reconstructed sod and adobe buildings. Modest admission is charged; Nebraska state park passes can be purchased at the interpretive center.
Safety Considerations
Fort Laramie National Historic Site, the Oregon Trail
Fort Laramie once stood sentinel over the Oregon, California, and Mormon emigration trails; was a stop on the Pony Express route; and served as a staging ground for both peaceful and hostile dealings with Plains Indians. Its association with important figures, including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, and historic events makes Fort Laramie an icon of the American West. The one-time Army post, now managed by the National Park Service as a national historic site, looks much as it did 150 years ago.
Site Information
Location (965 Gray Rocks Road, Fort Laramie, Wyoming)
A visitor center, museum, and 12 restored buildings help to tell its story. Audio-tour devices are available at the visitor center.
Safety Considerations
Gothenburg Pony Express Station
Pony Express Nebraska No. 21 Contract Station (Machette’s / Upper 96 Ranch / Dan Trout’s / Joe Bower’s / Broken Ranch) The actual station is now located in the Gothenburg city park, not at its original station location.
Gothenburg is home to two original Pony Express stations. The Sam Machette station (museum) is located in the beautiful Ehmen city park/arboretum. The original log building was disassembled, moved and reassembled in its current location in 1931 after it was donated to the city of Gothenburg by Mrs. C.A. Williams.
The second station in Gothenburg is still located on the original Oregon/Pony Express trail just south of town on private property. The Midway Station (Pony Express Nevada No. 19 Home Station) is owned and meticulously cared for by the Gill family of Gothenburg. Even though this station is not open to the general public, special interest groups and tour buses have been allowed out to view the property.
Site Information
Location (510 15th St, Gothenburg, NE 69138)
Safety Considerations
Granger Stage Station State Historic Site
Granger Stage Station State Historic Site is located in the town of Granger, WY. It was built as a stage station along the Overland Trail in the 1850s. Fort Bridger State Historic Site oversees, maintains, and interprets the Stage Station. Many trails came through Granger including the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Pioneer Trail, Pony Express Trail, Overland Trail, and the northern route of the Cherokee Trail.
Granger Stage Station is located in southwest Wyoming approximately five miles off I-80 (exit 66). The site includes the station building, two interpretive signs, and a monument to the Overland and Pony Express trails.
Site Information
Location (110 Spruce St., Granger, WY 82934)
Safety Considerations
Grassy Mountain Rest Area
The rest area offers views of the Cedar Mountains to the southeast and the Grayback Hills to the northwest. On clear days Pilot Peak is visible, as well. Look back towards Hastings Pass, about 4.25 miles southeast of where you stand now. The trail crosses Interstate-80 about one mile west of here and crawls over the steep saddle of Grayback Hills.
West of the rest area an Auto Tour Route highway sign marks where the Hastings Cutoff crosses the freeway on the approach to the Grayback Hills, which are ahead and slightly to the right. Beyond the hills, the trail is about 6 miles north of Interstate-80, where the sun glares off the white salt crust and daytime temperatures can exceed 100 degrees. Some years, out on the salt salts, emigrant wagons bogged down in the mucky clay and salt beds. James Reed's (Donner-Reed Wagon Train) thirst-crazed oxen bolted into the desert and emigrants miserably stumbled along, desperate to reach water.
On the right at about milepost 22 stands the distinctive hooked peak of Floating Island, so named because atmospheric conditions often make it appear to float on hot air above the flats. The Hastings Cutoff crosses north of Floating Island and continues across the next basin toward Silver Island peak. From the Tree of Life sculpture along the freeway, the trails lies about 11 miles to the north.
Site Information
Location (Interstate- 80, Milepost 55, Exit 56, Utah)
An orientation panel at the rest area shows the location of the California and Pony Express Trails relative to the highway.
Safety Considerations
Hanging Rock Pony Express Station
Pony Express Utah No. 3 Contract Station
The Hanging Rock Pony Express Station (Echo Canyon), also called Halfway Station, was located near a spring about halfway down the canyon. Nothing remains of the relay station but a pony express marker post standing in a trowel-like wagon swale marks it’s approximate location. The "hanging rock" itself a small natural bridge is just around the curve to the south. The area was an immigrant campground.
Site Information
Location (Leave westbound I-80 at Exit 178 (Emory). Cross the bridge and continue in a southwesterly direction paralleling the freeway to stop about 2 miles ahead.)
From the cattle guard at Exit 178, enter Echo Canyon Road. Drive 2.3 miles and pull onto the right shoulder near a lone juniper by the side of the road. Look down off the road to the right about 25 feet to find the silver-colored steel post that marks the Pony Express station site. The trough where the post is located is emigrant wagon swale. Continue to odometer mile 2.5, just around the curve, to a turnout on the right marked with brown Summit County tour sign No. 9. Hanging Rock is the natural bridge to the right of the turnout. It is on private property; please do not trespass.
Safety Considerations
Head of Echo Canyon
Pony Express Utah No. 2 Contract Station
Echo Canyon is a natural conduit through the Wasatch Mountains, used for thousands of years by wildlife and native people migrating between the Rockies and the Great Basin. Once discovered by mountain men in the early 1800s, the 24-mile passage eventually became a thoroughfare for pack trains, commercial and emigrant wagons, Forty-niner brigades, military columns, handcart processions, the Pony Express, the Overland Stage, and the transcontinental telegraph. The Donner-Reed Party was the third emigrant wagon party to pass through the canyon.
Today Echo Canyon is still a busy transportation corridor, occupied by I-80, the Union Pacific Railroad, a segment of the Old Lincoln Highway (the nation’s first coast-to-coast automobile highway), and modern communications and utility lines. More than 160 years of development have altered the canyon, but fascinating traces of 19th century uses still are visible.
As you enter I-80, look ahead and to the right toward the bare rampart of Castle Rock, an emigrant landmark near the head of Echo Canyon. The Mormon pioneer company headed by Brigham Young, who had taken ill with a tickborne infection, camped near here on July 14, 1847. The combined California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express Trail ran between the two modern railroad grades, and a Pony Express and stage station once stood on the grounds of the “old automobile graveyard” that is visible from the freeway. The site is on private property, not open to the public.
Site Information
Location (between Wahsatch and Echo, UT; Westbound I-80 enters Echo Canyon between mileposts 188 and 187 southwest of Wahsatch.)
Safety Considerations
More Site Information
Henefer Pioneer Trails Park
The park has a memorial and several interpretive exhibits about the Donner-Reed, Mormon pioneer, and Pony Express history of the trail in this area.
Site Information
Location (Henefer, Utah)
Safety Considerations
Historic Trails Park (Marshall's Ferry)
Marshall's Ferry was a major crossing of the Big Blue River near Marysville, Kansas. The Oregon and California trails, along with several others, converged here to cross the river. Seeing a great business opportunity, in 1852 Francis Marshall moved to Marysville from Missouri with the purpose of establishing a ferry on the Big Blue. On a knoll a short distance from the river, Marshall built his base of operations. He then constructed a rope ferry across the river and charged up to $5.00 per wagon to use it. The ferry was very popular- at times, thousands of emigrants would be camped here, waiting for days for their turn to cross. Illness quickly spread through these camps and emigrant deaths were a common occurrence.
Site Information
Location (Marysville, Kansas)
Today, Marshall's Ferry is part of the Historic Trails Park. The park contains several interpretive waysides that tell the story and a full-size, replica rope ferry.
Safety Considerations
Hogsback Summit
Hogsback Summit is where the Mormon Pioneer/California/Pony Express trail corridor crosses a low divide between the Weber River (present-day Henefer, Utah) and Dixie Hollow. The first wagons, belonging to the Donner-Reed Party, crossed this divide in 1846, followed in 1847 by Brigham Young's vanguard party of Mormon pioneers. Imagine those emigrants' despair upon reaching this spot and seeing the jagged, blue-gray peaks of the Wasatch Mountains on the horizon ahead. From here, both wagon companies had to grub a rough track over divides and mountains and down a series of willow-packed canyons and creek bottoms in order to reach the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The effort cost the Donner-Reed party 13 days, one of a series of troubles that caused the group to be trapped by blizzards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Site Information
Location (Utah Highway 65, about 5.5 miles southwest of Henefer, Utah)
Hastings Cutoff and Mormon Trail Wagon Ruts at Hogsback Summit (southwest of Henefer), marked by white fiberglass trail posts, are clearly visible along the right side of the road beyond the fence line at the Summit and Morgan County boundary. Just ahead at Hogsback Summit, the pioneers looked west and saw a discouraging jumble of mountains. An interpretive sign at the turnout tells the story.
Look for the swales on the right near the Morgan County sign at odometer reading 5.7 miles.
Exhibit
"40 Miles to Fort Bridger"
"The country west looks rough and mountainous," wrote William Clayton, describing this panorama of the Wasatch Mountains. Modern historians have dubbed this summit "Heartbreak Ridge" to describe the feelings of many early Mormon Pioneers who crested this ridge. After months on the trail, traveling over 1,200 weary miles, it was heart- wrenching to discover that the most difficult part of the journey still lay ahead. Some people must have broken down and wept. Others gritted their teeth with determination and moved southwest down off Hogsback Summit to challenge the mountains and canyons that lay ahead.
“...arrived [July 19] on the suummit of the dividing ridge and put a guide hard up, "80 miles to Fort Bridger"... The descent is not very steep but exceedingly dangerous to wagons being mostly on the side hill over large cobble stones, causing the wagons to slide very badly.” -William Clayton
Hollenberg Pony Express Station
The Hollenberg ranch house was built on Cottonwood Creek about 1857 by Gerat H. Hollenberg to capitalize on the Oregon-California emigrant trade that passed his door. In addition to living quarters for the Hollenberg family, the building served as a neighborhood grocery store, a tavern, and an unofficial post-office. Emigrants were able to obtain provisions at the ranch. Three years later, it became a Pony Express home station and later a stage station.
Dr. C.M. Clark reached Cottonwood Creek in 1860 and found "a small stream which is dry during the summer months. The approach to it is winding and steep, and as the bed of the stream contains several large stones at the ford, some care is necessary in driving. There are two good springs here, but no wood. The Stage Company have a station here, and there is also one or two other buildings."
Site Information
Location (2889 23rd Rd, Hanover, KS 66945)
The original building still stands. It is a rare example of a Pony Express station that still stands unaltered in its original location. A new visitor center with interpretive exhibits has been erected near the historic building.
Safety Considerations
Homestead National Historical Park, the Oregon Trail
Homestead National Historical Park, managed by the National Park Service, remembers the Homestead Act of 1862 and the lives of those affected by it. The Act brought about significant changes to the United States, including opening up federal land to a diverse group of people. The National Historical Park is home to the Homestead Heritage Center, a museum, visitor center, and research center. It contains multiple exhibits that present the story of homesteading in an interactive setting. The Heritage Center also offers visitors the opportunity to research Homestead records on computers made available for public use. The park's grounds contain several historic buildings, such as the 1867 Palmer-Epard Cabin and the 1872 Freeman School. There are also several hiking trails that wind through restored tallgrass prairie. Other amenities include picnic areas, free, wireless internet, and cell phone audio tours.
Emigrant Remarks
"Friday, April 6, 1877. Plenty of air stirring today, so it was not so hot. We finished off the gable ends of the dugout and got the boards on the rafters, ready for the straw. A lot more sod to carry tomorrow for the roof. Had jack rabbit for supper. They dress 7 lb. sometimes and I tell you they are big ones, almost twice as big as ordinary rabbits. You ought to hear the prairie roosters. This is the pairing season, and they strut around and keep up a constant humming, and you can hear them 1/4 mile, and farther if the wind is right. There are lots of them on my claim."
- Kansas Homesteader Howard Ruede originally in Sod-House Days: Letters from a Kansas Homesteader, 1877-78
Site Information
Location (8523 West State Highway 4, Beatrice, Nebraska)
Safety Considerations
Independence Rock State Historic Site
Independence Rock was the most-noted landmark of the wagon trails west of Fort Laramie. The rock derived its name from a party of fur trappers who camped and celebrated Independence Day near the rock on July 4, 1830. Eventually, thousands of emigrants camped at the foot of this 1,900 feet long by 850 feet wide granite outcrop. They carved their names and messages into the granite, using Independence Rock as a bulletin board for Oregon Trail travelers. In 1961, it was designated a national historic landmark managed by the State of Wyoming.
Today, the site contains a footpath that goes around the base of the rock, interpretive exhibits that tell the trail story, visible trail ruts (a deep wagon swale passes beneath the path's footbridge), and emigrant inscriptions. Hiking is allowed on the rock; however, please avoid walking on the earliest inscriptions as they are wearing thin.
Emigrant Remarks
On July 26, 1849, J. Goldsborough Bruff
"reached Independence Rock . . . at a distance looks like a huge whale. It is being painted & marked every way, all over, with names, dates, initials, &c - so that it was with difficulty I could find a place to inscribe it."
Site Information
Location (west of Alcova, Wyoming)
Safety Considerations
Infantry Barracks Foundation (1867)
This one-story frame building housed three companies, with mess halls and kitchens for each in the back.
Legacy of the Plains Museum
Located on the Oregon Trail, Legacy of the Plains Museum is a destination for people interested in stories of human and agricultural history in the North Platte Valley and High Plains. Our new state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits focus on the archeology of Native Americans and Westward Expansion, the lives of pioneering settlers, this establishment of irrigation, the development of rural communities, the diversity of cultures on the High Plains, and the innovative technologies and cultural practices of raising animals and crops in a semi-arid environment
Site Information
Location (2930 Old Oregon Trail, Gering, NE 69341)
Lt. Colonel's Quarters (Burt House, 1884)
Lt. Col. Andrew Burt, a 7th US Infantry officer, and his wife Elizabeth lived in the home 1887-88. They liked relatively plain furnishings rather than the ornate decor in most officers' houses during the Victorian period.
Magazine (1850)
The stone magazine, restored to 1850-62, held post weapons and ammunition, except large field pieces.
Marysville Pony Express Barn
Pony Express Kansas No. 12 Home Station
(Marysville/Big Blue/Palmetto City)
In 1859, Joseph H. Cottrell and Hank Williams built a stone barn in Marysville, Kansas. In 1860, they contracted with Russell, Majors, & Waddell to lease the barn as a livery stable for the Pony Express. The north end of the structure served as a blacksmith shop and stalls were on the other side.
This stable now serves as a museum. The Pony Express station was located in the Barrett Hotel, on the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway about one block north of the stable.
Site Information
Location (106 S. 8th Marysville, KS)
Safety Considerations
Mitchell Pass
Mitchell Pass is a gap between Scotts Bluff and South Bluff. In 1850, a wagon road was built through what was then called "Devil's Gap", and it became the primary route for emigrants (pioneers heading west), soldiers, Pony Express riders and the Transcontinental telegraph. Prior to 1851, emigrants would have used Robidoux Pass to bypass Scotts Bluff.
In 1851, William Lobenstine wrote in his journal:
"The rock itself is separated nearly at it's middle, having a pass here fifty to sixty feet wide, ascending at both sides perpendicular to a height of three to four hundred feet.
The passage through here was only made possible in 1851 and is now preferred by nearly all emigrants, cutting off a piece of eight miles from the old road."
Mitchell Pass was named for nearby Fort Mitchell, which was named after United States Brigadier General Robert B. Mitchell.
Today, visitors to Scotts Bluff National Monument can walk through Mitchell Pass on the Oregon Trail Pathway, a half-mile long hiking trail.
Murray City Park & Traders Rest Station
After it stopped at the Salt Lake House, the Pony Express traversed through Murray City Park on its way to the first station south of Salt Lake City, Traders Rest/Traveler's Rest. Entering the park from State Street, the trail traveled near the Chief Wasatch statue. Travel less than 3 miles south on State Street to the location of the Traders Rest station and imagine how things have changed since 1861.
Pony Express Utah No. 10 Contract Station (Trader’s Rest / Traveler’s Rest)
The station once stood on State Street in an area referred to as Lovendahl's Corner. The 1861 mail contract identified Trader's Rest Station, where Absalom Smith managed station operations. After the Pony Express era, someone added wood siding and a false front to the adobe building to convert it into a business establishment. The building was also used as a garage prior to its destruction sometime before 1979.
Site Information
Location (Park entrance on State Street, Murray, Utah; the trail went through the park at this entrance, near the Chief Wasatch statue.)
Station Location (7200 South State Street, Midvale, Utah; A stone monument now stands in the parking lot.)
Safety Considerations
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is a public-private partnership between the BLM, the National Historic Trails Center Foundation, and the City of Casper, Wyoming. It tells the stories of American Indians, early explorers, and the Oregon, Mormon, California, and Pony Express trails.
Interactive exhibits, including simulated covered wagon and stagecoach rides, life-size displays, and interpretive panels are found throughout the Center's seven galleries. Living history demonstrations, interpretive programs, multimedia presentations and special events are also offered. An orientation desk provides information and brochures about the national historic trails throughout Wyoming. In addition, the Center's 500 acres of land contain more than four miles of interpretive trails, ruts carved by emigrant wagons, and magnificent vistas. Allow two to three hours for your visit.
Site Information
Location (1501 North Poplar Street Casper, Wyoming)
Safety Considerations
New Guardhouse (1876)
After many complaints by the post surgeon, this new guardhouse replaced an unhealthy, overcrowded older one. It held both major and minor offenders.