Submitted by scott on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 23:43

Roberts Creek Station (N39 45 00.8 W116 17 05.2) 

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 (1963) 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. This time the buildings were better constructed and men left to occupy each one until the Indian troubles were over. On June 16 they met Howard Egan at Robert’s Creek. 

Robert’s Creek Station was a telegraph station as well as an Overland Stage Station. It was an Overland stop until 1869. The site of the station is now on the Robert’s Creek Ranch owned by Filbert Etcheverry of Bakersfield, California. Peter Damele noted the old Pony Express station, a log structure, has long since been obliterated by the owners. There is a log dugout very near the Express site he described, but no one knows if it is part of the original station or not. Robert’s Creek is 15 miles north of Highway 50.  http://www.expeditionutah.com/featured-trails/pony-express-trail/nevada-pony-express-stations/

ROBERTS CREEK STATION 

The final station in Division Four was known as Roberts or Roberts Creek, a fact that all sources agree upon.  The Roberts Creek Station existed as one of the original Pony Express stations. It was built in the spring of 1860 by either Bolivar Roberts' or Howard Egan's men. Other stations faced Indian troubles in May 1860, but it remains unclear whether any harm came to the Roberts Creek Station.  Richard Burton definitely stated that Indians had burned the station, and workers had rebuilt only part of it by his October 10, 1860, visit.  

The site at Roberts Creek also later served as a station for the telegraph and the Overland stage line,  and the station appeared on the 1861 mail contract with the Overland Mail Company. 

The station's original log structure no longer exists. A log dugout stood near the site in 1981, but its relationship to the Roberts Creek Station remained unknown at that time.  http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/poex/hrs/hrs7b.htm#135

Linked Chapters

Marker Category
Pony Express
Geolocation

39.757881164551, -116.28479003906

Geofield
Roughing It

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