Deer Creek Station

In the winter of 1859 to 1860 the creek held a crowd. Captain William Raynolds's survey party, with Ferdinand Hayden as naturalist and Jim Bridger as guide, built log quarters; agent Thomas Twiss ran the Upper Platte Agency from buildings the Mormon mail company had abandoned; and six men of a German Lutheran mission from Iowa lived on shared rations and Joseph Bissonette's credit. At Christmas a lighted tree filled a log room for officers, missionaries and a Native family. Three Cheyenne boys who went back to Iowa with the missionaries died there; their families were never told.

What the plaque says

Deer Creek Station Deer Creek Station, which once stood on the site of present-day Glenrock near the confluence of Deer Creek and the North Platte River, became a familiar landmark along the Oregon-California-Mormon Trail between 1857 and 1866. The station began with Joseph Bissonette's trading post, also known as Dakota City. The mountain man's store, post office, blacksmith shop, corrals, and hotel-saloon served the needs of a variety of visitors. They included photographer William Henry Jackson during his days as a freighter, stage passengers such as British author Sir Richard Burton, a party of Lutheran missionaries who remained in the area from 1859 to 1864, troops enroute to Salt Lake City during the Utah War, and in the winter of 1859-1860 an expedition of the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers under Captain William F. Raynolds. From 1857 to 1861, the post also was the trading center for the nearby Upper Platte Indian Agency, located about 3 1/2 miles upstream along Deer Creek. Beginning in April of 1860, Pony Express riders exchanged mounts here at Deer Creek Station. The Pony Express experiment, however, ended abruptly in October 1861. The completion of the first transcontinental telegraph meant that clicking telegraph keys quickly replaced pounding hooves. Indian-white hostilities escalated after the Civil War began, prompting troops from Fort Laramie to erect a military installation across the road from the trading post in 1862. From Deer Creek, troops sought to protect the telegraph line and travelers along the trail. Intensifying conflicts between soldiers and Indians ultimately forced Bissonette to abandon his establishment in the fall of 1864. Indians finally burned Deer Creek Station on August 18, 1866. This incident marked the closing of an important chapter of Wyoming's early history.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Ferdinand V. Hayden — steps away
• Rock in the Glen — 0.6 mi
• Oregon Trail — 5.4 mi
• Little Box Elder Creek — 13 mi