Last updated: August 20, 2026
Place
Dry Creek Station
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
18 miles east of Austin, Nevada, off Dry Creek Rd about 4 miles north of US-50 39.5088166667 -116.73255 PX marker in large rock beside the road and a Trails West T-marker nearby.
Significance:
Two Pony Express station employees died at Dry Creek Station (1860-1861) during an attack by warriors on May 21, 1860, during the Pyramid Lake War. Two other men, one in his stocking feet, ran from the station to reach safety.
Designation:
Historic site on the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Amenities
1 listed
Parking - Auto
A May 21, 1860, attack by warriors on remote Dry Creek Station, in present-day Lander County, Nevada, left 2 Pony Express employees dead and forced 2 other men to run for their lives.
The early morning attack began as station keeper Ralph Rosier and his partner John Applegate prepared breakfast, while a third employee, Lafayette “Bolly” Bolwinkle, caught a few more winks of sleep. A bullet struck down Rosier when he stepped out to fetch water from the spring. Hearing the crack of the rifle, Applegate leaped to the door and saw Rosier dying on the ground, but bullets tore into his hip before he could take cover inside.
Si McCandless, an independent trader, darted from his trading post across the road to take refuge at the station. McCandless and Bolwinkle, still in his stocking feet, piled heavy grain bags against the door as the critically wounded Applegate urged them to abandon him and save themselves. When they refused, he asked for a revolver. The men gave him a weapon, assuming he meant to use it for defense. Applegate instead turned it on himself, sparing himself from capture and likely torture and freeing his companions to make their escape.
After a period of quiet, McCandless and Bolwinkle, who was still shoeless, burst out of the station door and desperately sprinted for the sagebrush. The attackers, later identified as Shoshone and Bannock, gave brief chase but then turned to sacking the station for food and goods. McCandless and Bolwinkle—his feet shredded by rocks and cactus thorns—reached safety at Roberts Creek Station at about 9 p.m., after a 13-mile run.
Arriving by stagecoach on Oct. 11 that year, Sir Richard Burton noted the burial place of Applegate and Rosier. “The double grave, piled up with stones,” he wrote, “showed gaps where the wolves had attempted to tunnel, and blue bottle flies were buzzing over it in expectation.”
The Overland Stage & Mail stopped at Dry Creek from 1861 to 1869 but reportedly used a different structure as the station. Today, a boulder monument and a T-shaped trail marker commemorate Dry Creek Station. To visit the site, drive west from Eureka, Nevada, on US-50 for about 43.8 miles. A short distance beyond a chain installation turnout along the highway, turn right (north) on Dry Creek Rd, an unsigned bladed road. In 2.9 miles, bear left. Drive 1.6 mile, turn left onto a 2-track road, and continue for about ¼ mile. The boulder monument and a trail marker are on the right.
Site Information
Location (18 miles east of Austin, Nevada, off Dry Creek Rd about 4 miles north of US-50 39.5088166667 -116.73255 PX marker in large rock beside the road and a Trails West T-marker nearby.)