In Part 3 of my series on eastern Nevada Pony Express Stations, I described Mountain Springs Station (7), Ruby Valley Station (8), and Jacob’s Well Station (9). The numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of stations from the Utah State line. This will conclude my series of Eastern Nevada Pony Express Stations. Those in the western half of Nevada were in my previous articles.
Roberts Creek Station (10)
The final station in Division Four was known as Roberts Creek Station, 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 how much harm came to the Roberts Creek Station. Richard Burton definitely stated that Indians had burned part of the station, and workers had rebuilt only part of it by his Oct. 10, 1860, visit. History is conflicting and unclear on details of these events. The Station later served as a station for the telegraph and the Overland Stage line.
Sulphur Springs Station (11)
Many sources generally agree on the identity of Sulphur Springs as a Pony Express Station. However, a station probably did not exist at Sulphur Springs until July 1861, when the Overland Mail Co., began running its stage through the area. The station may have served as a stop for the Pony Express during the last few months of the Pony Express existence. Ruins of a log wall, stone foundations, and pieces of various artifacts in an area near Sulphur Springs possibly indicate it was the station site. There was still evidence of the site as late as 1979. The site is now on the Diamond Star Ranch. The area is fenced and there are ruins of a log wall, stone foundations and pieces of artifacts.
Diamond Springs Station (12)
Sources generally agree on the identity of Diamond Springs as a Pony Express Station.
Richard Burton visited the station on Oct. 9, 1860 and noted its Mormon station keeper and the site as a water source. According to Burton, the station was named after the “warm, but sweet and beautifully clear water bubbling up from the earth.” As of 1979 remnants of the station existed in a grove of cottonwoods near the mouth of Telegraph Canyon and the Diamond Springs still flowed nearby. A stone and concrete marker with a brass Pony Express Centennial plaque stands one mile south of the station site.
Dennis Cassinelli is a Dayton author and historian. You can order his books at a discount on his blog at denniscassinelli.com.