Historical Marker · No. 704
Sportsman's Hall Overland Pony Express Route in California
Cedar Grove, El Dorado County · California
Erected by California State Park Commission in cooperation with the James W. Marshall Chapter No. 49, E. Clampus Vitus and the Central Overland Pony Express Trail Association, 1980
This is the only marker on the route that gives a time. At 7:40 in the morning on April 4, 1860, Sam Hamilton rode in from Placerville and handed the mochila to Warren Upson, and two minutes later Upson was gone eastward toward the snow. The building was a hotel first, known as Twelve-Mile House, run by John and James Blair for the Comstock trade. The Express was a tenant in somebody else's business, and it lasted eighteen months.
What the plaque says
Sportsman's Hall This was the site of Sportsman's Hall, also known as Twelve-Mile House. The hotel operated in the late 1850's and 1860's by John and James Blair, a stopping place for stages and teams of the Comstock, it became a relay station of the Central Overland Pony Express. Here, at 7:40 A.M., April 4, 1860, pony rider William (Sam) Hamilton, riding in from Placerville, handed the express mail to Warren Upson, who, two minutes later, sped on his way eastward. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 704 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the James W. Marshall Chapter No. 49, E Clampus Vitus, and the Central Overland Pony Express Trail Association, April 3, 1960.
Where it stands
38.75010, -120.61125 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 15 miThe tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.