Submitted by scott on Tue, 07/16/2013 - 00:05

Dry Wells Station (N39 23 05.7 W117 23 14.4) 

This station was probably built in the summer of 1861 for the Overland Stage Route which went through this way until late 1862 or early 1863 when this part of the route was then moved northward to run over New Pass (Ream). Today there is no sign of where the station may have been situated in the canyon. There are old telegraph poles still standing but no sign of insulators or wire. The canyon is on public land located just north of Railroad Pass in the Shoshone Mountains.  http://www.expeditionutah.com/featured-trails/pony-express-trail/nevada-pony-express-stations/ 

DRY WELLS STATION 

Several sources pinpoint Dry Wells or Dry Well as a station.  Historical sources do not mention Dry Wells as an early Pony Express station, which suggests that it possibly began in the summer of 1861 as an Overland Mail Company stage stop. Without this station, the distance between Reese River and Smith's Creek was a long stretch for both horse and rider. The station possibly existed in Dry Wells Canyon, north of Railroad Pass in the Shoshone Mountains, but no ruins remain to mark its exact location. The Overland Mail Company used the station until about 1862 or 1863, when it shifted to a more northerly route that included Mount Airey, New Pass, and Edwards Creek.  http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/poex/hrs/hrs8a.htm#140

Linked Chapters

Marker Category
Stagecoach
Geolocation

39.389507293701, -117.38342285156

Geofield
Roughing It

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