Submitted by scott on Tue, 07/16/2013 - 00:09

Smith’s Creek Station (N39 23 00.1 W117 37 40.1) 

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.  http://www.expeditionutah.com/featured-trails/pony-express-trail/nevada-pony-express-stations/ 

SMITH'S CREEK STATION 

A number of sources identify Smith's Creek as a station, including the 1861 Overland Mail Company contract.  John M. Townley lists the site as a home station.  On October 14, 1860, the English traveler Richard Burton visited Smith's Creek and recorded his unusually favorable impressions of the station house and stone corral.  Two 1860 shootings remain associated with Smith Creek. One involved the stationkeeper, H. Trumbo, who shot rider Montgomery Maze in the hip after an argument. In the second shooting, rider William Carr quarreled with Bernard Chessy at Smith Creek. Carr later killed Chessy and was hanged at Carson City. 

Parts of the station existed on the present Smith Creek Ranch as late as 1979. Two adobe buildings with willow thatch roofs, identified as the corral and station house, still stand. The adobe station, originally used by the Pony Express, also has a later stone addition.  http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/poex/hrs/hrs8a.htm#141

Linked Chapters

Marker Category
Pony Express
Geolocation

39.395877838135, -117.63336181641

Geofield
Roughing It

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