Pony Express & Stagecoach Routes
by Susan Reed
Beaverton, OR
While growing up in Eastern Oregon there were quite a few stories about the Pony Express coming through there. My dad, Harry D. Proudfoot Jr., had a place named Sarvis Springs Ranch. It was 40 mi from Pendleton, 30 mi from Heppner, and 20 mi from Hermiston on Butter Creek. Our address was Star Route, Echo, OR, but that was our post office. It was 10,000 acres of mostly wheat until the government intervened and paid the ranchers to plant certain crops if they wanted to or not, which proves you never really own the land you think you do.
If you rode your horse straight back through the property, it was 20 miles. Part of that road was a section of the Pony Express and Stagecoach route. There was an old building and a corral still standing. The building was the home of the station manager and there were fresh horses kept in the corral for the Pony Express rider. Depending on the destination, the stagecoach occupants could spend the night there. On the hill above it, you could still see the wagon ruts in the ground. At one time, there was a water well too.
It was an integral part of the Old West until the railroad came through with the mail and passenger cars. The Columbia River ships could bring the mail just so far, then it had to be handed off to the Pony Express.
