The Journey is the destination
Nevada, often referred to as the “Silver State,” is located in the western United States. Renowned for its vast deserts and striking mountain ranges, the state boasts a diverse landscape that includes the arid Mojave Desert in the south and the forested Sierra Nevada mountains in the west. The state is famously home to Las Vegas, a vibrant city known for its bustling casinos, entertainment venues, and nightlife. Beyond the glitz of Las Vegas, Nevada offers rich history in its ghost towns, a legacy of the 19th-century mining boom. The state also features significant natural attractions, such as Lake Tahoe and Great Basin National Park, offering a wide range of outdoor activities. Nevada’s economy is driven by tourism, mining, and, increasingly, technology, making it a dynamic state with a blend of natural beauty and modern attractions.
Diamond Springs Station is a Pony Express Station number 133 and located in a meadow in Eureka County, Nevada. Today the station is on private land which is believed to be owned by Olive Thompson. The station was described by Sir Richard Burton as the Eden of the Pony Express Trail when he visited the site on October 9th, 1860. He also reported that the site was managed by an unfriendly Mormon couple.
The Ruby Valley Station was started in 1859 as part of George Chorpenning’s mail route. Later the station served the Pony Express and Overland Mail Company line in White Pine County, Nevada. The station was managed by William “Uncle Billy” Rogers and Frederick William Hurst.
Richard Burton visited the site on October 7, 1860, Rogers served as stationkeeper. At that time, this station was considered a half-way point between Salt Lake City, Utah and the Carson Valley. Protection from angry Western Shoshone Tribes is provided from Fort Ruby from 1862 – 1869, which is located near by. The station is an extremely small log cabin which is just eleven feet wide and eighteen feet lone.
The area’s rich soil provided excellent opportunities to raise food and hay for the other stations along the route. A band of Shoshone and the army also established camps near the station at various times. Camp Floyd’s Company B of the 4th Artillery Regiment arrived at Ruby Valley in May 1860 to protect the mail route during the Pyramid Lake War and remained there until October. Thereafter, the station’s name appeared on the 1861 mail contract list.
NPS – Pony Express DIVISION FOUR: STATIONS BETWEEN SALT LAKE CITY AND ROBERTS CREEK
The structure is built from vertical logs which form the walls. The walls are topped by smaller logs placed perpendicularly to form a slightly sloped shed roof. The root is originally covered with sod. An exterior stone chimney stands at one end of the cabin. The only opening into the building is the front entrance, centered in the main facade. Pony Express stations consisted of rudimentary cabins for shelter, they were critical to the survival of the route.
For preservation, the Ruby Vally station was physically relocated to the grounds of the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko in 1960. The Northeastern Nevada Historical Society donated a brass maker to identify the station site in 1979.
| Name | Ruby Valley Station |
| Location | White Pine County, Nevada |
| Latitude, Longitude | 40.04652, -115.4918 |
| GNIS | 845958 |
| Elevation | 6030 feet |
| Pony Express Station No. | 131 |
The Pony Express operated for a very brief period of time from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861. The mail service allowed quick delivery of mail, messages and newspapers between California and Missouri. The pony express was built and operated around one hundred and eighty six stations, which enabled a rider to change horses frequently and quickly traverse the county.
The Pony Express only operated for a brief 18 months. Yet, the lore of its riders racing the mail across the country maintains a special place in history. The service was not a financial success and heavily subsidized. Despite this influx of capital, the service was doomed on October 24, 1861 with the success of the transcontinental telegraph.
The Pony Express started to fill a need caused by the growing populations of California. After the discovery of Gold in 1848, thousands streaked to the golden state to seek their fortune in the ground. Additional demand for mail service was caused from migration along the infamous Oregon Trail and the Utah Mormon exodus in 1847. Stage Service was used to transfer correspondence across the Western United States.
The service was built and organized by three men, William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell. These men formed the company Russell, Majors & Waddell and in just two months in the winter of 1860 organized 184 stations, 80 riders and 400 hundred horse to race mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Some of the stations were existing stage stops while others were purpose built humble buildings deep in the Nevada territory. They hoped with a 10 day delivery time they could secure government contracts. The costs of the expedited service was 25000% greater that the slower stage service and a 1/2 package would cost $5 at the time.
“Men Wanted”
The undersigned wishes to hire ten or a dozen men, familiar with the management of horses, as hostlers, or riders on the Overland Express Route via Salt Lake City. Wages $50 per month and found.
Ad in the Sacramento Union, March 19, 1860
The riders would received their delivery and store them in a special mail pouch or mochila. The rider would travel from station to station and changed horses at each station about every 10 miles. Every third station, or so, is designated as a home station, where extra horses, firearms, men and provision are kept. Weight was an important factor. Riders, horses, letters, and gear were all chosen with this in mind. The horses averaged about 14 1/2 hands high and weighed less than 900 pounds. The riders would be changed every 75 to 100 miles and road 24 hours a day. A pony express rider earned $125 / month which was a good salary for the time
The last day of the pony express was October 26, 1861. On this day, the transcontinental telegraph completed the first direct communication between san Francisco and New York. On that day, the pony express officially became too slow, too expensive and ceased operations.
I, … , do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God.”
Oath sworn by Pony Express Rider
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In 1907, Gold was discovered at the town site which would be known as Nivloc Nevada by a Native American prospector. The town derived its name from for the former owners “Colvin” who operated the site in 1923. The name spelled backwards was Nivloc and such is the haste in the Nevadan desert.
The original mining operations were short lived. The town experienced a bit of a resurgence in the 1930s. The town never amounted to much boasting only one saloon. At its height of operation from 1940 to 1943 the town could claim a post office. Between 1937 and 1943 the small town produced between $2 and $3 million dollars of Gold and Silver. The 400,000 tons of ore was pulled from mines reaching depths 440 feet and 600 feet of below the surface. During this time, the mines of Nivloc ranked as Nevada’s number one silver producer.
We have not made a trip to Nivloc, however the townsite is very high on my ghost town “to do” list. There are several standing structures and buildings intact. The mine headframe is still standing at and a rail trestle bridge which is one hundred and twenty feet in length and forty feet tall.
| Town | Nivloc, Nevada |
| Location | Esmeralda County, Nevada |
| Latitude, Longitude | 37.71583, -117.75722 |
| Elevation | 6,170 feet |
| GNIS | 851592 |
| Post Office | October 1940 to November 1943 |
The site of the last major gold rush in 1927, Weepah Nevada is a ghost town and gold mine site located in Esmeralda County. Named for the Shoshone word for “rain water”, the townsite was formed in 1902 when gold was discovered in shallow pockets by Indians. A modest rush of 200 people found their way to the small outpost, however the district would soon go dormant and stay that way for the next twenty five years.
Gold was rediscovered in March 1927 by Leonard Trayner and Frank Horton, Jr. from Tonopah. Initial assay results valued the ore at $70,000 per ton. News of this strike could not be kept quiet and spread out like wildfire across the nearby mining communities of the desert and beyond.
Twenty years prior would have seen an influx of wagons and horses bringing in the miners. Weepahs gold rush was powered by the newly available automobile. The auto powered the rush and the speed of the boom and within one week of the new of “gold” in Weepah, the town was bursting with over 1,000 people searching for their fortune in the hills. Many of these miners came via auto and were fully equipped and supplied well, often even driving new cars to the site an known as “mail order prospectors”. Soon, wooden frame houses rose above the older city which was comprised from a sea of tents. The town could be found from three roads, which were often jammed with autos as the towns population was between 1500 and 2000 people.
Regardless of production, reporters filed daily briefings and international newsreels informed the population of the ongoing modern gold rush. In April, the build boom continued with about 60 wooden framed buildings and over a dozen mining companies. Despite the promotion and news reels, interest in Weepah waned in July 1927. The last great gold rush in Nevada was over when the “mail order prospectors” broke camp and ran from the realities of the Nevadan desert.
| Name | Weepah, Nevada |
| Location | Esmeralda County, Nevada |
| Latitude, Longitude | 37.931876389209,-117.5600734418 |
| GNIS | 856169 |
| Elevation | 6.165 Feet |
| Population | 1,500 – 2,000 |
| Post Office |