Willow Springs Station (N39 54 01.1 W113 42 50.9) (M#83) (P)

Location: NW1/4SW1/4 Section 6 Township 11 South, Range 16 West, Salt Lake Meridian, 8 miles from Boyd Station.

F. J. Kearney boarding house (BLM photo 1978)  A great deal of controversy has arisen over the location of the Willow Springs Station. Descriptions given by Nick Wilson (an Express rider) and Sir Richard Burton do not describe the location of the place now claimed to be the station site. A foundation, identified tentatively as dating to the proper period and similar to the structure depicted in the sketch from an 1868 photograph, has been found at the spot where an 1882 survey plat locates the Willow Springs Stable. This structure, located on the Dorcey Sabey property, is approximately 100 feet northeast of F. J. Kearney’s boarding house . This facility is about 3/4 mile east of the structure popularly known as the station house. Further archaeological investigations are necessary to establish the true location of the station.This station is on private land in the small ranching community of Callao. There is a monument next to the road. The locals are sure that it is on the Bagley ranch and still stands. Originally an adobe structure, it was covered with wood to keep it from washing away.

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

WILLOW SPRINGS STATION

The location of the Willow Springs station, identified in the 1861 mail contract, remains controversial. Fike and Headley identify this site eight miles from Boyd's Station. A photograph from 1868 shows the Willow Springs stage station and adobe ruins next to it that possibly served as the Pony Express station.  According to Fike and Headley, a foundation that possibly supported the Willow Springs stable exists "approximately 100 feet northeast of F. J. Kearney's boarding house [still standing in 1978] . . . [and] 3/4 mile east of the structure popularly known as the station house."

Terral King notes that the town of Callao now surrounds the Willow Springs Station site. In 1965 a monument stood near the gate to the Bagley Ranch, and preserved buildings associated with the Pony Express were painted red.

Other sources also refer to Willow Springs as a station but they do not agree on its location. Several sources place it between Boyd's and Canyon/Burnt Station.  Bloss lists Willow Springs between Canyon Station and Deep Creek Station.

http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/poex/hrs/hrs7a.htm#120