By: Jaromy Jessop

When Mark Twain crossed this desert in the early 1860’s he was very excited at first and felt he was on a great adventure – about to embark on a crossing of the Great American Desert. Not an obscure desert but in his words “a very celebrated one, the metropolis itself, as you may say”. Twain soon changed his tune however writing, “The poetry was all in the anticipation – there is none in the reality”.

That is how Mark Twain felt as the sun rose at Dugway Station many years ago in the time of the Pony Express and Overland Stage. 45 miles from the beginning of the desert and 23 miles from the end of it as he described the location of Dugway Station. There was no well here, least ways, not a well with any water in it, and that is the most interesting thing about Dugway Station – the failed well. Sir Richard Burton states that when he stopped at the station in 1860, there were 3 men working on a well and they had dug down to a depth of 120 feet without reaching any water!

Howard Ransom Egan, son of Howard Egan described the well in detail upon visiting the site in 1862. He stated that it was 113 feet deep and he was lowered all the way to the bottom where he carved his name in the side of the wall. Egan stated that the workmen complained that the deeper they dug the well, the hotter it got down there. He also said that the poor workmen used an auger to dig 40 feet deeper with no water still. He stated that “Then the job of trying more to find water there was given up and it made a nice place to dump the stable cleanings”

There were 3 men stationed at Dugway and a change of horses for the stage. Water was hauled in by barrels from Riverbed or Simpson’s station. The station men had a hard life and they complained to Burton that the Indians knew of a spring, not far from the station in the Dugway Mountains but would not tell the whites where it was. I imagine the Indians were amused, watching the men trying to find water in this god forsaken place. These “draughty souls” as Burton called them were constantly out of whiskey and tobacco and I am sure that this fact did not serve to boost their spirits.

If you visit Dugway Station today, you can see rubble caved into several depressions where the wells must have been – just a short distance from the marker. The marker is the only thing rising out of the plain for miles around and since it was constructed in 1939, it has been a favorite roost for the raptors of the desert and is covered quite completely with their droppings. The marker and surrounding desolation is probably hands down, the most bleak and lonely site along the Express trail.

To find the marker, as you approach the Dugway Range from the Old River Bed, watch for a 20-foot tank and watering trough on the south side of the road. This is the Topaz Well. A road leaves the express trail and heads south from here to Topaz Mountain and eventually Delta. Turn left here and follow this road south for approximately 1.6 miles to where an old two track dirt road heads west. Take this road and follow it for .8 miles as it rambles across two minor drainages and you will end up at the bleak location of the site of Dugway Station. Dome shaped 5,091 foot Bittner Knoll rises out of the plain about a mile to the west from the station and if you want an interesting aerial view of the plain, climb the knoll and look back across the desert to Table Mountain and then down on the marker at Dugway Station. It is quite a panorama. The gray rhyolite of the Thomas Range and the rugged crags of the Dugway Range to the north set an imposing backdrop. As you survey the scene, ask yourself if 35 dollars a month would have been enough to work out in a place like this.

Related posts:

1. PONY EXPRESS TRAIL EXPLORATION Part VII: Simpson Springs
2. PONY EXPRESS TRAIL EXPLORATION – Part V: Faust Station – Lookout Pass
3. PONY EXPRESS TRAIL EXPLORATION: Part VIII – The Old Riverbed
4. PONY EXPRESS TRAIL EXPLORATION Part IV – West from Camp Floyd into the Great American Desert
5. PONY EXPRESS TRAIL EXPLORATION – Part VI: Davis Mountain and Skull Valley

Tags: cleanings, desert, great american desert, location, pony express, richard burton, site, TRAIL, water, workmen

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 8th, 2010 at 6:05 am and is filed under History, Nature, Recreation, States, Trails, Uncategorized, UTAH, West. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.