Alkali Station

Text

Alkali Station played several important roles as a stopping place on the Overland Trail between 1859 and 1867. Established as a stagecoach relay station, it served as a Pony Express station in 1860-61, then as a base station along the transcontinental telegraph line. Alkali marked a point where the trail network fanned out toward various points to the west. As a large a road ranche through the 1860s, it provided travelers with supplies, rested stock, and repair facilities. Alkali Station became a fortified army post during the Civil War. It housed cavalry units charged with maintaining the western flow of people and goods. Fighting occurred at the station, and troops based there took part in combat against Northern Plains tribes. Alkali Station fell into disuse with completion of the transcontinental railway system. Sod structures and other facilities at the site were abandoned and allowed to decay. Never cultivated, it preserves evidence of its contribution to the development of the country’s transportation system. Efforts by land owners and their neighbors have recognized and preserved the site.