The Mud Springs Station Archaeological District, which includes the Mud Springs Pony Express Station Site, near

Dalton, Nebraska Dalton is a village in Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 315 at the 2010 census. History Early history Dalton was founded ''circa'' 1900 when the Nebraska, Wyoming and Western Railroad was extended to that point. T ...

, has significance dating to the mid-19th century. The

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...

station at Mud Springs, staffed by U.S. soldiers, was attacked by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribesmen during February 4–6, 1865, in what became known as the

Battle of Mud Springs The Battle of Mud Springs took place February 4–6, 1865, in Nebraska between the U.S. army and warriors of the Lakota people, Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. It was part of a series of retaliations by the Native American alliance af ...

. In 1966, the site of the Pony Express station was a plot. Part of the present area was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973 as Mud Springs Pony Express Station Site, and the listing was expanded to and renamed on the register in 2011. It has also been designated Nebraska historic site 25MO72.

Brief History

Mud Springs Station, a Native American territory in the olden times, served as a

site in 1860-61. It was named after the springs found at the opening of a canyon that divided Lodge Pole Creek and

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 I ...

Valleys,

. The station served travelers en route the dry and arid trail from the Lodge Pole Creek to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. In 1859, Mud Springs Station saw the coming of crude houses and a stage station for coach service, the movement called as Pony Express. But its life proved short-lived and in, 1861, abruptly ceased. But, as a legacy, a transcontinental telegraph station was established at Mud Springs Station and a daily stage coach service continued its service. The telegraph station, that served till 1876 proved a savior for Mud Spring Station, when an attack by the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

and Cheyenne Indians in the

was thwarted by a

SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...

telegraph sent to US troops and the subsequent arrival of reinforcements to counter the attack. Today, as the last vestige of the Mud Spring Station, a stone monument, inlaid with a bronze Pony Express plaque, stands at the historic site. Currently, listed on the

, originally, the Pony Express Station site was donated in 1939 to the

Nebraska State Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society, formerly History Nebraska, is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information ... and to embrace alike aboriginal and modern history." It w ...

, by the then site-owner, Mrs. Scherer.

References

External links

Mud Springs Pony Express Station Site
- National Park Service, history and visiting information * More photos of the Mud Springs station site at

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

Fort Laramie National Historic Site Hosts Program on Mud Spring and Rush Creek Battles
Gering Citizen, 2011-07-14 {{Authority control Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Buildings and structures completed in 1856 Buildings and structures in Morrill County, Nebraska Tourist attractions in Morrill County, Nebraska Monuments and memorials in Nebraska Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Morrill County, Nebraska

Brief History

See also

References

External links