This is the third in a series of caches to highlight the Pony Express route through El Dorado County.
The Pony Express ran through El Dorado County approximately where Highway 50 is today, from April 3, 1860 to October 26, 1861. It was no longer needed when the transcontinental telegraph system was completed on October 24, 1861.
The entire trip of the Pony Express would be completed in 10 days cutting the time of mail and news delivery to the west coast by more than half. No wonder for all the excitement that it generated at the time!
The Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, was 1840 miles in length. Upon arrival in Sacramento, the mail was placed on a steamer and continued down the Sacramento River to San Francisco for a total of 1966 miles. The Pony Express Trail went through the present states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.
EL DORADO/NEVADA HOUSE/MUD SPRINGS STATION
El Dorado was a station on an early route of the Pony Express along White Rock Road, between Placerville and Mormon Tavern. In 1850 James Thomas erected a trading post at this site. One year later, the presence of a mining camp required the construction of several hotels and stores. One of these new buildings, known as the Nevada House, served as a remount station for the Pony Express. Riders followed the White Rock Road route until June 1860, when the trail switched to the Green Valley Road. According to the files of the California Landmarks Commission, El Dorado/Nevada House/Mud Springs was a trading post, emigrant stop, and mining camp of the 1850s, and then became one of the remount stations of the C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. Here at the Nevada House on April 13, 1860, Pony Rider William (Sam) Hamilton changed horses while carrying the first east-bound mail of the Pony Express from Sacramento to St. Joseph, Missouri. A California Registered Historical Landmark's plaque placed at the site reads:
El Dorado meaning "The Gilded One" was first known as Mud Springs from the boggy quagmire the cattle and horses made of a nearby watering place. Originally an important camp of the old Carson Emigrant Trail. By 1849-50, it had become the center of a mining district and the crossroads for freight and stage lines. At the height of the rush its large gold production supported a population of several thousand.