Last updated: September 12, 2026
Place
Rocky Ridge Station/St. Mary's Station
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
The station marker stands at a public roadside about 10 miles directly southwest of the Sweetwater Station/Sixth Crossing Visitor’s Center on US-287. It can be accessed from Oregon Trail Rd, but surface conditions are variable and some roads may be unsigned. High-clearance vehicles are advised. Do not enter private lands or posted ranch gates. Call the Lander Office of the Bureau of Land Management at 307-332-8400 for directions and information. Marker GPS 42.47775 -108.3615833333
Significance:
A Pony Express, stage, and telegraph station and military outpost were located at Rocky Ridge Station—also called St. Mary’s Station—in the 1860s. A Cheyenne and Arapaho war party destroyed the station, starting a fire that caused an ammunition explosion, in 1865.
Designation:
Historic site on the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
MANAGED BY:
Site marker manager is the Bureau of Land Management
Amenities
1 listed
Scenic View/Photo Spot
Rocky Ridge Station may have been built in 1859 by Russell, Majors, and Waddell—the firm that operated the Pony Express and Overland Stage Mail. However, writer Horace Greeley, who traveled the trail by stagecoach that year, makes no mention of a station at Rocky Ridge.
British adventurer Sir Richard Burton did find a station there when his coach stopped near Rocky Ridge for a night in August 1860. He described it as a “terrible unclean hole” and complained about swarms of mosquitos. Burton also recounted a near-disastrous incident: a station employee, irritated by the howls of coyotes and wolves, emerged from his bedroll and aimed his revolver at one of the offending animals—only to realize, just as he began to pull the trigger, that his “wolf” was a federal marshal sleeping in the yard. Fortunately, the mistake was caught in time.
The Pony Express likely operated at Rocky Ridge from 1860 until its closure in late 1861, and a relay station for the transcontinental telegraph was added that year. As raids by Plains tribes increasingly threatened the telegraph lines, mail, and overland traffic, the US Army stationed small detachments of soldiers at Rocky Ridge Station and other outposts in the region. These military operations shared the station with the overland stage until 1862.
By July that year, attacks had grown so frequent that the postmaster general ordered mail coaches to shift to a safer route. Instead of following the Oregon, California, and Pony Express trail corridor, coaches would now continue along the South Platte River from Julesburg toward Denver, turn northwest onto the Cherokee gold rush trail, and reconnect with the original route in southwestern Wyoming.
Conflict continued to simmer, erupting into widespread attacks in 1864 and 1865. On May 26, 1865, around 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors descended on Rocky Ridge Station. The 5 enlisted men assigned to defend the post fled from the wooden buildings to shelter in a nearby dugout. In the chaos, 2 soldiers became wedged in the dugout’s narrow entrance, and their comrades frantically dug them free and hauled them inside. Meanwhile, the attackers set fire to the station buildings. The flames ignited a store of black powder, and the resulting explosion forced the warriors to withdraw.
Troops from nearby forts soon arrived and rebuilt the station, which then was renamed St. Mary’s Station. Like other small military outposts on the Plains, St. Mary’s likely was abandoned around 1869-1870, when completion of the transcontinental railroad dramatically reduced trail traffic.
Site Information
Location (The station marker stands at a public roadside about 10 miles directly southwest of the Sweetwater Station/Sixth Crossing Visitor’s Center on US-287. It can be accessed from Oregon Trail Rd, but surface conditions are variable and some roads may be unsigned. High-clearance vehicles are advised. Do not enter private lands or posted ranch gates. Call the Lander Office of the Bureau of Land Management at 307-332-8400 for directions and information. Marker GPS 42.47775 -108.3615833333)