Pony Express




Over 125 miles of the original Pony Express Route across Utah still exists as a gravel road maintained by Utah's Department of natural resources. The road is marked and runs from Camp Floyd at Fairfield, Utah to Ibapah near the Nevada border. Although it is lightly traveled now, in its day it was an important road which the Pony Express shared with the Overland Central Stage, the company that pioneered the route. At the beginning of the twentieth century this road was followed by motorists as part of the Lincoln Highway. These were brave travelers indeed. Today, travelers are warned to be prepared for snow in winter and blowing dust or flash floods in summer.

Today, on a morning dominated by threatening clouds and sporadic rain, I made the first leg of the trip west from Camp Floyd to the relay station at Faust.


Camp Floyd, the jumping off point, was built in 1858 when President Buchanan sent over 5,000 soldiers to Utah to suppress a feared Mormon rebellion that never occurred. These troops were lead by the fabulous Albert Sydney Johnston, widely considered the greatest soldier of his day, although he turned out to be among the shortest lived when war came.


The camp was abandoned and dismantled in 1861 when the Civil War broke out and the soldiers and officers went their separate ways. The only remaining building is the commissary which is now used as visitors center and museum. When the camp was being built and the frontier town of Fairfield was growing up around it, an enterprising man named John Carson built an Inn to serve the Overland Stage and the military base. The adjoining town was over run with vice (Brigham Young had anticipated this and had insisted on the remote location) so the Carson Inn maintained Mormon standards for its residents. This was appreciated by General Johnston who lodged there in preference to the town.


The inn remained in operation until 1947 serving area mining camps.

                            



I hit the road in the rain which continued all day.
       

The road was a wash board so my speed was about 15 mph.
                                              .



This areas is popular for off road vehicle use and target shooting so I didn't have much company on this rainy day.


Faust, my destination, has no remaining buildings but it originally was the site of a relay station.



All in all, not a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday.


Navigating the Sagebrush Sea.














Comments

  1. UnknownMay 20, 2018 at 5:19 PM

    Looks like a nice little adventure! We are getting a lot of rain just now, too. My little garden is really appreciating it.
    I'm glad you are doing this blog. It's fun to follow.

    ReplyDelete

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