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I was thinking about how Chief got to deliver Pony Express mail during the 
Cold Springs XP this year and how Don Funk nicknamed him Sponge Bob.  I put 
the two together and now his new nickname for today anyway is Pony 
Bob.  (Chief gets all the cool nicknames, at least compared to Rocky <g>).

Here is some history on Pony Bob, the rider, and Cold Springs 
Station.  btw, Buckland's is where the 5 week long ride starts from today 
and of course you guys know all about where Cold Springs is.  The riders on 
the 5 week long ride will be staying there tomorrow night.  I love reading 
about the history of the various stations that we have been at and Cold 
Springs has some interesting history.

Pony Bob Haslam is credited with having made the longest round trip ride of 
the Pony Express. He had received the east bound mail (probably the May 
10th mail from San Francisco) at Friday's Station. At Buckland's Station 
his relief rider was so badly frightened over the Indian threat that he 
refused to take the mail. Haslam agreed to take the mail all the way to 
Smith's Creek for a total distance of 190 miles without a rest. After a 
rest of nine hours, he retraced his route with the westbound mail. At Cold 
Springs he found that Indians had raided the place killing the station 
keeper and running off all of the stock. Finally he reached Buckland's 
Station, making the 380-mile round trip the longest on record.

*****
One story tells how Pony Bob received the mochila with President Lincoln's 
address at Smith's Creek, Nev., and sped west, making the fastest run ever 
to Cold Springs, Nev., one of the major stops along the trail to Fort 
Churchill. He had seen no Indians along the way, and this seemed too good 
to be true. At Cold Springs, he asked for "Old Buck," not the fastest 
horse, but one noted for fighting against the Indians.

Mounted on Old Buck and on his way to Fort Churchill, Pony Bob found 
himself charging through a series of ambushes. Finally, Old Buck pointed 
his ears forward and snorted a warning as Haslam cocked his two guns and 
rode on. Indians came at him from all directions.

Dropped flat on his horse, Bob raced on as Indians boiled out of the brush, 
firing bullets and arrows from every direction. Soon he was surrounded by 
mounted war-riors, several on stolen Pony Express ponies.

Old Buck could outrun the Indian ponies, but not the swift Pony Express 
ponies. Bob had no choice but to shoot the ponies as they approached him. 
One by one, Haslam got the Indian ponies, until there were only three left. 
As these dropped back, an arrow struck Bob's left arm, hit the bone and 
remained there quivering. Haslam managed to get the arrow out, and rode on 
through a narrow ravine that forced the Indians following him to fall into 
single file. He was able to shoot down two more Indian ponies, but the 
third escaped.

Tossing away one empty revolver, he took out the other one and turned to 
fire at the oncoming Indian. An arrow tore into his cheek, knocking out 
five teeth and fracturing his jaw. He did not lose consciousness, but 
turned and emptied his gun at the remaining Indian. Old Buck carried him to 
Middle Gate Relay Station. There, Bob spent a few minutes caring for his 
wounds, but he insisted on finish-ing his run to Fort Churchill. In this 
remarkable episode, the famous Pony Express rider, badly wounded, had gone 
120 miles in eight hours and 10 minutes under circumstances that make 
today's Wild West stories seem tame.

Pony Bob's epic ride was a part of the fastest trip made by the Pony 
Express. The mail was carried from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., 
in seven days and 17 hours.

****
144. COLD SPRINGS/EAST GATE STATION: NR, 5/16/78, 26CH310

Sources generally agree on the identity of Cold Springs as a station, and 
Raymond and Mary Settle give Cold Springs the status of a home station.

Bolivar Roberts, J. G. Kelly, and their crew erected Cold Springs Station 
in March 1860 for the C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. as they prepared for the 
beginning of the Pony Express the next month. Several men managed station 
operations at Cold Springs, including Jim McNaughton, John Williams, and J. 
G. Kelly. In May 1860, Indians attacked the station, killed the 
stationkeeper, and took the horses. They raided the station again a few 
weeks later. When Richard Burton reached Cold Springs on October 15, 1860, 
he found a roofless, partially built station house.  Townley notes that the 
Overland Mail Company line dropped Cold Springs from its route about July 
1861 in favor of a site west of present U. S. 50.

Much of the station's stone ruins still exist today. Thick walls, complete 
with windows, gunholes, and a fireplace, identify the station, and the 
remains of a corral stand nearby. As in Burton's visit in 1860, the 
structure has no roof. The station is listed on the National Register of 
Historic Places and has been structurally stabilized for preservation and 
safety reasons.

*****

The Cold Springs Pony Express Station is located on US 50 65 miles west of 
Austin. An interpretive center near the highway explains the history of the 
site and marks the beginning of a 1-1/2-mile trail to the station.

In March of 1860, Cold Springs Pony Express Station was built by 
Superintendent Bolivar Roberts, J.G. Kelly and others. It was put to use by 
the Pony Express in early April. Jim McNaughton was the station keeper at 
Cold Springs until he became a rider. J. G. Kelly was assistant station 
keeper at Cold Springs for a while.

The 1860 structure was built of large native rocks and mud. It was a large 
station, measuring 116 feet by 51 feet. The walls were four to six feet 
high and up to three feet thick. There were four distinct rooms -- storage 
area, barn, corral, and living quarters. The horse corral was located next 
to the living quarters primarily as a safety measure to guard the valuable 
animals. This location also took full advantage of the animals' body heat 
during cold Nevada winters. The only other source of heat was from one 
small fireplace.

On Bob Haslam's famous ride he stopped at Cold Springs to change horses and 
went on to Smith Creek Station. He stayed there nine hours and when he 
returned to Cold Springs he found it had been attacked by Indians, the 
keeper killed and all the horses taken away. Bob watered his horse and 
headed for Sand Springs.

The following morning Smith Creek Station was attacked by Indians. The 
whites, however, were well protected in the shelter of a stone house, from 
which they fought the Indians for four days. At the end of that time they 
were relieved by the appearance of about 50 volunteers from Cold Springs. 
These men reported that they had buried John Williams, the brave keeper of 
that station, but not before he had been nearly devoured by wolves.

A few weeks after "Pony" Bob Haslam's ride, problems were still arising at 
Cold Springs Station as was reported to W. W. Finney, road agent from C.H. 
Ruffin, an employee of the company (May 31, 1860):

    "I have just returned from Cold Springs - was driven out by the 
Indians, who attacked us night before last. The men at Dry Creek Station 
have been killed, and it is thought the Robert's Creek Station has been 
destroyed. The Express turned back after hearing the news from Dry Creek. 
Eight animals were stolen from Cold Springs on Monday. Hamilton is at the 
Sink of the Carson, on his way in with all the men and horses. He will get 
to Buckland's tomorrow."

Cold Springs Station was the site of other unhappy events as reported by a 
Placerville newspaper letter to the editor on May 31, 1860:

    "Bartholomew Riley died last night in Carson City of a rifle-shot 
wound received at Cold Springs Station, on the Pony Express route, on the 
16th of May. He had received an honorable discharge from Company E of the 
19th Regiment of U. S. Infantry, at Camp Floyd, and was in route to 
California where he has brothers and sisters residing, when intelligence of 
the Indian outrage at William's ranch was first brought to Carson. As might 
be expected from a gallant soldier, he did not hesitate what course to 
pursue, but at once threw himself into the ranks of the ill-fated 
volunteers, under Major Ormsby. During the trying scenes of that bloody day 
at Pyramid Lake, he was conspicuous among them all for the intrepidity and 
gallantry of his conduct. Like the white plume of Henry Navarre, his course 
was where the battle raged fiercest, and he heeded them not. More than one 
of the dusky enemy were made painfully aware of the unerring accuracy of 
his aim whilst his were the friendly hands that performed the last kind 
services for the lamented Ormsby.

    "Among the last to leave the field, Riley did not reach Buckland until 
the Express going east arrived on the 15th of May. The rider upon whom 
developed the duty of going forward with the Express shrinking from its 
performance and when there seemed no alternative but a failure, Riley, 
fresh from the battle field and tired as he was, stepped forth and 
volunteered to ride to the next change, a distance of 85 miles. He did so 
in excellent time.

    "On the following day, at Cold Springs Station, by the accidental 
discharge of a weapon in the hands of a friend, he received wounds from 
which he died last night. He sleeps - he has fought his last battle - may 
the last trump awake him to glory again."

After the Indian problems of the spring and summer of 1860, Sir Richard 
Burton passed through Cold Springs in his travels and gave this account on 
October 15, 1860:

    "The station was a wretched place half built and wholly unroofed; the 
four boys, an exceedingly rough set, ate standing, and neither paper nor 
pencil was known amongst them. Our animals, however, found good water in a 
rivulet from the neighboring hills and the promise of a plentiful feed on 
the morrow. Whilst the humans, observing that a beef had been freshly 
killed supped upon an excellent steak. The warm wind was a pleasant 
contrast to the usual frost but as it came from the south all the 
weather-wise predicted that rain would result. We slept however without 
such accident, under the haystack, and heard the loud howling of the 
wolves, which are said to be larger on these hills than elsewhere."

Station keepers and riders were continually changing. Another rider that 
stayed at Cold Springs was William James. He rode in 1861 between Simpson 
Park and Cold Springs. Today at Cold Springs a substantial fortress still 
stands out on the trail. Living quarters and corral are easily recognized 
as well as windows, gun holes, and a fireplace. The "rivulet of good water 
from the neighboring hills, that Burton found so refreshing is still 
running by the old ruins.

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If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter
horse. 
~  Libby Llop

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