Desert Station

Desert Station is a historic locale, the site of a later station of the Butterfield Overland Mail, in what is now Maricopa County, Arizona.

Desert Station
Locale
Desert Station
Location in the state of Arizona
Coordinates: 33°04′00.4″N 112°21′30.79″W
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
CountyMaricopa County
Elevation
[1]:130
1,341 ft (409 m)
Population
 • Total0
Time zoneUTC-7 (MST (no DST))

History

Desert Station, established in 1859, was 21.82 miles (35.12 km) east of Gila Ranch Station through Pima Pass, amidst the Fortymile Desert in the great bend of the Gila River, on West Prong Waterman Wash.[2] It lay 18.57 miles (29.89 km) west of Maricopa Wells Station.[3]:1056 Desert Station had its own well.[4] Two tanks were established on the route, one between Desert Station and Gila Ranch and another between Desert Station and Maricopa Wells station to water the horses as they crossed the desert. The two riverside stations were tasked to carry water to supply the tank nearest them.[1]:128–132

In March 1861, the Butterfield line shut down, but during the American Civil War, Desert Station's remained a stop for freighters and passing travelers coming into the New Mexico Territory from the riverport of Arizona City on the Colorado River. It also saw the passage of the troops of the Confederate Army that briefly passed through to the west and then fell back before the advance of the California Column of the Union Army that invaded Confederate Arizona and occupied New Mexico Territory in 1862.

References
  1. Sanders, Kirby, Butterfield Overland Mail Route Through New Mexico and Arizona, Kirby Sanders and Amazon Createspace, 2013
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: West Prong Waterman Wash
  3. THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. CHAPTER LXII. OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. JANUARY 1, 1861–JUNE 30, 1865. PART I., CORRESPONDENCE., p.1056, itinerary of the marches from Fort Yuma to Pima Villages, made by Lieutenant-Colonel West
  4. Desert Tracks, June 2013, Publication of the Southern Trails Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association, Santa Fe, 2013, pp.22-23 Finding Leach’s Well with Dennis Wells by Greg McEachron


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