Station Keepers

Although the spotlight of admiration and praise often focused upon the Pony Express riders, their success was impossible without the humble, mostly obscure, and forgotten station keepers and stock tenders. These were the unsung heroes without whom no rider could have operated very far or for very long. They formed a standby group, mostly too old or too heavy to withstand the strain on human and horse flesh, but who were always ready to serve as substitute riders in an emergency, and some of whom later did become full-fledged riders.

These were the horseshoers, artisans and mechanics at Home Stations and especially the station and stock tenders at outlying, sometimes desolate relay stations, whose sole job was the preservation of connecting links between Home Stations and the presentation to an incoming rider of a fresh mount, when possible all saddled and bridled and ready to keep the mail moving at top speed, the distinctive badge of the Pony Express. Theirs was a lonely, a dangerous life, far from immediate help against hostile Indians and outlaws.

That the Pony Express mail moved smoothly, swiftly and dependably, was due in no small part to their ingenuity and loyalty, and to their ability to accomplish so much with so little. Courage, endurance, and the ability to live under the most primitive, harsh and, in many cases, very dangerous, conditions were their primary characteristics. The remarkable success of the entire enterprise is evidence that they did their work well.

Bolivar Robert's Division (Sacramento to Roberts Creek)

James Alcott - Station tender at Simpson Park Station. His station was burned, stock stolen, and he was killed by Indians, early in June 1860.
John Applegate - Station tender at Dry Creek Station. Killed by Indians on May 21, 1860.
Albert Armstrong - Station tender at Egan Canyon Station.
Berry - Station tender at Strawberry Station.
Lafayette (Bolly) Bolwinkle - Station tender at Dry Creek Station and Mountain Springs Station. At times he was also a rider.
Samuel S. Buckland - Station tender at Buckland's Station.
Giovanni Butisch
"Friday" Burke - Friday's Station
William Francis Cox - Diamond Springs
John Davis
Constant Dubail - Schell Creek
Captain F. Flint
Gilston - Dry Creek Station
Charles C. Hawley - Ruby Valley
Mike Holten - Egan Canyon Station
Fredrick William Hurst - Ruby Valley
J. G. Kelly - Carson Sink and Cold Springs
W. C. Marley - Station tender at Buckland's Station
Montgomery Maze - Sand Springs
Si McCandless - Dry Creek Station
James McNaughton - Station tender at Sand Springs and Cold Springs (before becoming a rider)
Reynal - Station tender at Spring Valley
Colonel "Uncle Billy" Rogers - In charge of Ruby Valley Station. A former marshal in California, in 1860 he was Assistant Indian Agent and was operating a model farm.
Ralph Rosier - Station tender at Dry Creek Station. On May 21, 1860, with Applegate, Rosier was shot and scalped by Indians while preparing breakfast at the Dry Creek Station and was buried nearby.
Sevier - Deep Creek Station
William Sherman - Ruby Valley
James Small - Friday's Station
William Smith - Station tender at Nevada Station
Mr. Thomas - Station tender at Butte Creek Station sometimes called "Robber's Roost.
Col. Totten - Station tender at Smith Creek Station and Ruby Valley
J. O. Williams - Station tender at Williams Station near Fort Churchill
John Williams - Smith Creek Station(killed on duty)
George Wolf - Ruby Valley
Henry Woodville Wilson - Egan Canyon
Mose Wright - Robert's Creek
William Young - Ruby Valley

Howard Egan's Divison (Robert's Creek to Salt Lake City)

Mr. Bauchmann - East Canyon
Bid Boyd - Boyd's Station
James Bromley - Weber Station
John Carson - Carson Inn (Camp Floyd)
Mr. Daniels - Halfway Station
George Dewees - Simpson Springs
Joe Dorton - Station tender at Joe's Dugout Station south of Great Salt Lake.
Constant Dubail - Station tender at Spring Valley Station
Major Howard Egan - Salt Lake and Deep Creek
Henry J. Faust - Station tender at Rush Valley (Faust's) Station. He was sometimes a rider. As a rider, an organizer, and later as a practicing physian his recorded activities center in Toole County, Utah, south of Great Salt Lake. (For additional info, click HERE.)
Frenchie - Head of Echo Canyon
Ephraim Hanks - Station tender at Mountain Dale and Big Canyon Stations
Mike Holton - Station tender at Egan's Station. A war party of Indians surprised Holton and rider Nicholas Wilson at breakfast and compelled them to spend the day making all of their flour into bread, then tied the two to a stake to be roasted alive. They were rescued just in time by rider William Dennis and a troop of United States dragoons.
William F. Horsepool - River Bed
Frederick W. Hurst - Station tender at Ruby Valley Station
Mr. Jackson - Point Lookout
Pete Joyce - Willow Creek
James Laird - Echo Canyon
James McDonald - East Canyon
A. B. Miller - Salt Lake House
Peter Neece - Station tender at Willow Creek Station (Roberts Creek). Like Holton at Egan's Station, Neece had a run-in with Indians over flour, and two Indians were killed. Rider Nicholas Wilson and others were here, too, and the Indian attack that night was repulsed.
Mathew Orr - Deep Creek
Oscar Quinn - River Bed
Porter Rockwell - Station tender at Rockwell's Station
Harrison Sevier - Station tender at Deep Creek (Ibapah Station)
Absalom Smith - Trader's Rest
Mr. Smith - Fish Springs
Henry Wilson - Station tender at Egan's Station.
George Wright - River Bed

James Bromley's Division (Horseshoe to Salt Lake City)

Louis Guenot - Station tender at Platte Bridge Station
Holmes - Station tender at Millersville Station near Fort Bridger.
David Lewis - Station tender at Ham's Fork Station
Moore - Station tender at Three Crossings Station
Myers - Station tender at Bear River Station
Plante - Station tender at Split Rock Station
William A. "Bill" Reid - Station tender at Rocky Ridge Station
Wheeler - Station tender at Box Elder Station
The June 1860 US Census has John North as the Box Elder Station Keeper for the Pony Express Company.

Joseph A. Slade's Division ( Kearney to Horseshoe)

Badeau - Station tender at Badeau's Station near Fort Laramie
Gilman - Gilman's Station
"Hod" Russell Station tender somewhere in Nebraska.
Seth Ward - Station tender at Fort Laramie.

A. E. Lewis' Division (St. Joseph to Kearney)

Jules Beni - Julesburg Station
George Chrisman - Agent at Julesburg. He had bought out "Old Jules" and was then owner of Julesburg Ranch. He was a leading wagon master for Russell, Majors and Waddel.
George A. Comstock - Thirty-two Mile Creek Station
Richard Ellsworth - Station tender at Fort Kearney.
George Guittard - Station tender at Guittard's Station.
Gilman - Station tender at Gilman's Station
Captain Levi Hensel - Located in Seneca, Kansas, in 1858, he shod many horses and mules for the Pony Express and stage lines, from Kennekuk, Kansas, to Big Sandy, Nebraska, until he went into the Army. In later years, he lived in Pueblo, Colorado.
James Butler Hickok - Stock tender at Rock Creek Station.
Gerat H. Hollenberg - Station tender at Hollenberg Station.
N. H. Rising - Station tender at Log Chain Station
John E. Smith - Station tender at Seneca Station.
Edward Sterling - Station keeper at Rock Creek Station
William Vickery - Station tender at Syracuse Station
Horace Wellman - Station tender at Rock Creek Station

Sources: Settle and Settle, Saddles and Spurs; The Pony Express in Nevada; Fike and Headley, The Pony Express Stations of Utah in Historical Perspective; Floyd, Phantom Riders of the Pony Express.