Simpson Springs is a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

, former

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

station, former

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...

camp, and

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...

in southeast Tooele County,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Description

The springs are located about south of Dugway and about west of the town Vernon, on the southeastern corner of the

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway ...

. The site lies on the Simpson Springs Road portion of the historic Pony Express Trail and is situated Simpson Springs lies at an elevation of about on a bajada of the northwest flank of the

Simpson Mountains Simpson most often refers to: * Simpson (name), a British surname *'' The Simpsons'', an animated American sitcom **The Simpson family, central characters of the series ''The Simpsons'' Simpson may also refer to: Organizations Schools * Si ...

, on the eastern edge of Dugway Valley, and has long been a water source on the trail west from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

across the desert regions. (The Simpson Buttes lie a few miles to the west within the Dugway Proving Ground.) The Bureau of Land Management maintains a campground in the area.

History

The site was undoubtedly used by Native Americans and possibly the Fremont Indian cultures due to its good water supply. The old river bed several miles west has provided evidence of indigenous activity. The springs were first called Egan Spring for explorer Howard Egan, but renamed Simpson Springs for Captain James H. Simpson following his work to establish a military mail route to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

in 1858. Simpson Springs was established as an

Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

station by

George Chorpenning George W. Chorpenning Jr. (sometimes spelled 'Chorpening')(1 June 1820 - 3 April 1894) was a pioneer in the transportation of mail, freight, and passengers through the arid and undeveloped western regions of nineteenth-century United States. His eff ...

for mule train connection between Salt Lake City and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. It later became an important

, Overland Stage, and later,

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and inter ...

stations on the trail through Utah desert. The station was discontinued after completion of the

first Transcontinental Railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

in 1869. It continued to be used for local freight between Fairfield and

Ibapah Ibapah ( ) is a small unincorporated community in far western Tooele County, Utah, United States, near the Nevada state line. Description The settlement is located near the Deep Creek Mountains. The site was originally established in 1859 by ...

into the 1890s. The location was used as a

camp in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In January 1942, the U.S. military established

in the area, which was occupied by military personnel through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The existing building on the site was built by the

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at ...

as a replica in 1975. Simpson Springs gained national attention 2009 in connection with suspicious circumstances involving the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell in December of that year. She was last seen alive on the 6th and her husband, Joshua Powell, reported that later the same night (shortly after midnight) he had taken his two young sons camping at Simpson Springs and left her sleeping at their house in West Valley City, Utah. Law enforcement searched the Simpson Springs area later that week, but did not find anything. Susan has not been seen since, nor have her remains been found. (Fourteen months later, on February 5, 2012, Josh Powell and his two sons were killed in an apparent

murder–suicide A murder-suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more persons either before or while killing themselves. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms: * Murder linked with suicide of a person with a homicidal idea ...

in Graham,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

References

External links

* * {{coord, 40, 2, 16, N, 112, 47, 11, W, display=title Civilian Conservation Corps in Utah Butterfield Overland Mail stations Stagecoach stops in the United States Pony Express stations Bodies of water of Tooele County, Utah Springs of Utah

Description

History

See also

References

External links