Buckland’s Station

Samuel Buckland settled this stretch of the Carson River in 1859, built a ranch, and put up the first toll bridge below Genoa. His place became a stop on the Overland Stage and, in 1860, a Pony Express remount—until newly built Fort Churchill took over the mail duty just downstream. When the Army abandoned the fort in 1869, Buckland bought its buildings at auction for seven hundred and fifty dollars and used the salvaged lumber to raise the two-story house that stands today. It is now part of Fort Churchill State Historic Park, open to visitors.

What the plaque says

(On the California Emigrant Trail). Samuel S. Buckland was a true pioneer. He settled here in 1859, began a ranching operation, established a station for the Overland Stage Company, and operated a tent hotel. He also constructed the first bridge across the Carson River downstream from Genoa. During 1860, Buckland built a large log cabin and married Miss Eliza Prentice. In that same year, Buckland’s Station served as the assembly point for the volunteer units that took part in the Pyramid Lake War. It was during this period that Buckland’s served as a remount station on the famous Pony Express route. In 1864, Buckland opened a store and dispersed goods to travelers, neighbors, and the soldiers at nearby Fort Churchill. He later constructed the large two-story house, presently located here, from materials obtained at the dismantling of the fort. Buckland and his family are buried at Fort Churchill.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Virginia City — 21 mi
  The boomtown that sits on top of the richest silver strike in America—fewer than a thousand people now, on streets built for twenty-five thousand
• Chollar Mine — 21 mi
  A real Comstock silver mine you can still walk into—four hundred feet of original timbered tunnel under C Street, where the work that built a state was done by hand, in the dark

More markers nearby

• Desert Well Station (Overland Mail and Stage Station) — 7.8 mi
• Wabuska — 11 mi
• Lahontan Dam — 15 mi
• Sutro — 18 mi