Simpson Springs is a spring, former Pony Express station, former Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and campground in southeast Tooele County, Utah, United States. [1]
The springs are located about 13 miles (21 km) south of Dugway and about 19 miles (31 km) west of the town Vernon, on the southeastern corner of the Dugway Proving Ground. [1] The site lies on the Simpson Springs Road portion of the historic Pony Express Trail [2] and is situated Simpson Springs lies at an elevation of about 5,100 feet (1,600 m) [1] on a bajada of the northwest flank of the Simpson Mountains, on the eastern edge of Dugway Valley, [3] and has long been a water source on the trail west from Salt Lake City across the desert regions. (The Simpson Buttes lie a few miles to the west within the Dugway Proving Ground.) The Bureau of Land Management maintains a campground in the area. [4]
The site was undoubtedly used by Native Americans and possibly the Fremont Indian cultures due to its good water supply. The old river bed several miles west has provided evidence of indigenous activity. [5] [6]
The springs were first called Egan Spring for explorer Howard Egan, but renamed Simpson Springs for Captain James H. Simpson following his work to establish a military mail route to California in 1858. [7] [5] [8]
Simpson Springs was established as an Overland Mail station by George Chorpenning for mule train connection between Salt Lake City and Sacramento. [5] It later became an important Pony Express, Overland Stage, and later, Wells Fargo stations on the trail through Utah desert. The station was discontinued after completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. It continued to be used for local freight between Fairfield and Ibapah into the 1890s. [5]
The location was used as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In January 1942, the U.S. military established Dugway Proving Ground in the area, which was occupied by military personnel through World War II. [5] The existing building on the site was built by the Future Farmers of America as a replica in 1975. [5]
Simpson Springs gained national attention in 2009 in connection with suspicious circumstances involving the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell in December of that year. She was last seen alive on the 6th and her husband, Joshua Powell, reported that later the same night (shortly after midnight) he had taken his two young sons camping at Simpson Springs and left her sleeping at their house in West Valley City, Utah. Law enforcement searched the Simpson Springs area later that week, but did not find anything. Susan has not been seen since, nor have her remains been found. [9] (Fourteen months later, on February 5, 2012, Josh Powell and his two sons were killed in an apparent murder–suicide in Graham, Washington.) [10]
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company.
Tooele County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 72,698. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year.
Murray is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, the city had a population of 50,637 as of the 2020 United States Census. Murray shares borders with Taylorsville, Holladay, South Salt Lake, Millcreek and West Jordan, Utah. Once teeming with heavy industry, Murray's industry mix has now shifted significantly toward healthcare, retail, and professional, scientific, and technical services. Known for its central location in Salt Lake County, Murray has been called the Hub of Salt Lake County. Unlike most of its neighboring communities, Murray operates its own police, fire, power, water, library, and parks and recreation departments and has its own school district. While maintaining many of its own services, Murray has one of the lowest city tax rates in the state.
Eagle Mountain is a city in Utah County, Utah. It is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The city is located to the west as well as north of the Lake Mountains, which are west of Utah Lake. It was incorporated in December 1996 and is rapidly growing. The population was 43,623 at the 2020 census. Eagle Mountain was a town in 2000. It has since been classified as a third-class city in September 2001. In its short history, the city has become known for its rapid growth.
The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, except for the headwaters and several bedrock gorges in the lower reaches.
Camp Floyd State Park Museum is a state park in the Cedar Valley in Fairfield, Utah, United States. The park includes a small part of the former Camp Floyd site, the Stagecoach Inn, and the Fairfield District School.
The Goshutes are a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today:
State Route 201 (SR-201) is an east–west expressway and freeway located in Salt Lake County in the U.S. state of Utah. Colloquially known by some as the 21st South Freeway, the route serves as an alternative to Interstate 80 (I-80) through Salt Lake City. From the western terminus of the route west of Magna, the highway heads east through Kennecott Copper property as an expressway before running through the western suburbs of Salt Lake City as a freeway. Shortly after the route returns on a surface route, SR-201 terminates on its eastern end at State Street.
Martin's Cove is a historic site in Wyoming. The 933 acre (3.8 km2) cove is located 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Casper, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte-Sweetwater segment of the Oregon Trail. The Cove was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1977.
The Skull Valley Indian Reservation is located in Tooele County, Utah, United States, approximately 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Salt Lake City. It is inhabited by the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah, a federally recognized tribe. As of 2017 the tribe had 134 registered members and 15-20 people living on the reservation.
The Little Sahara Recreation Area is a large area of sand dunes, hills and sagebrush flats located in the northeast corner of the Sevier Desert in Juab County in the west central part of Utah, United States.
The Cedar Mountain Wilderness is located in northwestern Utah, United States, just south of Interstate 80. The vegetation on the upper elevations of the Cedar Mountains is dominated by junipers. The foothill and valley regions include mixed desert shrubs. Cheatgrass is prevalent over large areas burned by range fires. The remains of an aragonite mining camp can also be found in the foothills.
The Deseret Peak Wilderness is located in the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County, Utah, United States near the towns of Tooele and Grantsville, not far from the Great Salt Lake. It is part of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. This semi-arid wilderness is part of the Great Basin ecosystem. Elevations range from about 6,000 feet to the top of Deseret Peak's limestone escarpment at 11,031 feet (3,362 m). In this high country, with barren Skull Valley to the west, you'll find some springs and intermittent creeks, despite the general dryness of the area.
U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a transcontinental highway in the United States, stretching from West Sacramento, California, in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, on the east coast. The Nevada portion crosses the center of the state and was named "The Loneliest Road in America" by Life magazine in July 1986. The name was intended as a pejorative, but Nevada officials seized it as a marketing slogan. The name originates from large desolate areas traversed by the route, with few or no signs of civilization. The highway crosses several large desert valleys separated by numerous mountain ranges towering over the valley floors, in what is known as the Basin and Range province of the Great Basin.
The Central Overland Route was a transportation route from Salt Lake City, Utah south of the Great Salt Lake through the mountains of central Nevada to Carson City, Nevada. For a decade after 1859, until the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, it served a vital role in the transport of emigrants, mail, freight, and passengers between California, Nevada, and Utah.
James Hervey Simpson (1813–1883) was an officer in the U.S. Army and a member of the United States Corps of Topographical Engineers.
Faust is a settlement located in central Tooele County, Utah, United States.
The Overland Trail was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was most heavily used in the 1860s as a route alternative to the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails through central Wyoming. The Overland Trail was famously used by the Overland Stage Company owned by Ben Holladay to run mail and passengers to Salt Lake City, Utah, via stagecoaches in the early 1860s. Starting from Atchison, Kansas, the trail descended into Colorado before looping back up to southern Wyoming and rejoining the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger. The stage line operated until 1869 when the completion of the First transcontinental railroad eliminated the need for mail service via stagecoach.
Susan Marie Powell is an American missing person from West Valley City, Utah, whose disappearance in December 2009 and the subsequent investigation garnered national media attention. Her husband, Joshua Powell, was named by law enforcement a person of interest in her disappearance but was never charged. Joshua killed himself and the couple's two young sons in February 2012 after custody of the boys had been awarded to Susan's parents.
The Dugway Range is a 13-mile (21 km) long mountain range located in central-south Tooele County, Utah, on the Juab County north border.
