Mile 997: Split Rock
"Split Rock, in the distance, was one of the geographic markers that the Pony Express riders and the pioneers used to help navigate the trail. All along the way you can…
Mile 1075: South Pass
"The air is so dry out here that it takes forever for wood to rot. Some of these structures have been around for well over 100 years and haven't been…
Mile 600: Pole Creek Station
"Life at most of the Pony Express Stations was not exactly luxurious. Sir Richard Burton wrote the following about Pole Creek Station based on his 1862 visit: 'The hovel fronting…
Mile 509: Sleepy Sunflower RV Park
"Found a pretty sweet place to stay for the night. I also changed time zones. I also crossed over the 500 mile mark of the route." [N.B. More info about Sleepy Sunflower…
Mile 151: Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site
"The Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site has been painstakingly restored and is open for visits from March 14th - October 13th. Be sure to make a quick stop…
South Pass: Gateway to a Continent
Will Bagley, South Pass: Gateway to a Continent (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015) So far, this is the only book related to the Pony Express ride I regret buying. It's…
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April 21, 2020
Winter in South Pass
"Two of Caspar Collins’s men froze at South Pass in early spring 1865, 'though not very seriously,' he wrote. 'I have just returned from that abominable section of country. Dr. Rich…
The West’s Contribution to the Union
"[Abraham Lincoln] viewed the region and its mineral wealth as vital to the Union cause. It was a keen insight, and during the war California’s mines contributed $185 million to…
Butterfield on the Central Route
"The Butterfield Overland Mail contracted to manage the express operations east of Salt Lake in April 1861. The company launched the first daily overland stage and mail service from St. Joseph,…
Clean Out of Cash & Poor Pay
" Russell, Majors & Waddell had been surviving on loans made against its government contracts for handling most of the Utah Expedition’s freighting operations since 1858. The government failed to pay its…
Winter 1858
"Hockaday could hardly have chosen a worse year to launch his enterprise than 1858. The storms that fall 'in the neighborhood of the South Pass and the Sweetwater are pronounced by…
Hockaday and the Salt Lake Mail
"[John] Hockaday, Magraw’s former partner, bid for the Utah mail contract in June 1857 but lost to Stephen B. Miles of Delaware, who took on the difficult task for only $32,000…
Brigham Young Express
Brigham Young hoped to use the federal mail contract he won late in 1856 using Hiram S. Kimball, a merchant who acted as his agent, to build a major overland freighting…
First Stagecoach Service
"John M. and Isaac Hockaday advertised a monthly passenger-coach service to Salt Lake in 1854 in association with [William] Magraw. They began laying the groundwork for what become the first effective stage…
Woodson’s Mail Contract to Salt Lake City
"Samuel H. Woodson won the first federal postal contract to provide monthly mail service over South Pass to Great Salt Lake City for $19,500 per annum on July 1, 1850. .…