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THE
EGAN CANYON INCIDENT
Jerry
Bowen, August, 1995
An account of an attack on
the Egan Canyon Pony Express Station that almost echoes a Hollywood script
was written by Billy Fisher, one of the riders who was an eye witness
during the days of its operation in 1860-61. William F. “Billy” Fisher
was one of the fast riding men whose first job at age 20 was riding with
the mail between Ruby Valley and Egan Canyon. Egan Canyon is located about
3 miles south of Cherry Creek, Nevada
Billy Fisher was born Nov. 16, 1839 at Woolich,
Kent, England. During the Paiute uprising in Nevada, Billy made one of the
longest rides in history. He was in the saddle for 35 hours between Ruby
Valley and Salt Lake City, carrying the mail through dangerous Indian
country. In July, 1860 he was moved east on the run between Rush Valley and
Salt Lake City, and his dangerous run was turned over to Pony Express rider
William Dennis. Billy left the Nevada run to take the Salt Lake - Rush
Valley run, because his bride to be, Millennium Andrus Van Etten, convinced
the route superintendent to have him changed. They were later married in
1860 and first child, William E., was born in the Fall of 1861, the month
the Pony Express closed down. Billy
took a job on the stage line handling horses and putting in hay for the
stations, many of which were former Pony Express Stations. He died at
Rigby, Idaho, September 30, 1919, and was buried on October 3, 1919 at
Oxford Idaho where he was the towns first Mormon Bishop. It is not far from
the northern Utah line where his son, Ray, was born March 9, 1883.
The following is a
copy of the old faded pencil-written account of a raid on Egan Canyon Pony
Express Station by Billy Fisher:
“In the
early part of July 1860, after the death of the war chief Leatherhead, it
was supposed that the Indian war between Rush Valley and Reese River,
Nevada was over, and the U.S. troops under Lieutenants Weed and Perkins
were ordered home to Camp Floyd, and all the soldiers that had been
detailed to help guard the Pony Express stations were ordered to join their
respective companies at Ruby Valley and get ready to March to Camp Floyd.
It was about
the 15th of July the command started from Ruby for Camp Floyd
and camped that night at Butte Station about 18 miles southeast of Ruby
Valley Station. I must here give you an idea of how Egan Canyon Station was
located. It was situated in a very pretty little valley about a half mile
across either way. On the east was a canyon between steep, high, rugged
mountains, with a stream of water running through towards the east and
emptying into Steptoe Valley. About 200 or 300 yards west of where you
emerged from the canyon was a large mound or knoll about 100 feet high, the
emigrant road running on the north side of it. The Station was about 220
yards south of the knoll so that when you get even with the knoll the
Station was out of sight from the road coming from the west. We came from
Nipcut Canyon and rode to the mound and then diverged south to the Station,
and the rider could not see the station until he got past the mound.
On the 16th
of July the only men at Egan Canyon Station were Mike Holton, station
keeper, and Wilson, rider, who took the express from Will Dennis who had my
ride from Ruby East, and carried it to Schell Creek. The soldiers had left
and the other 3 employees of the Express Co. who had been there for a month
past, were sent to work on other portions of the route, as we all supposed
the Indian war was over. But on the referred to about 80 of the renegade
Reds, who had fought under Leatherhead, in all their war paint, rode
through Egan Canyon up to the station and demanded of the boys, flour,
bacon, and sugar. The boys handed out the provisions knowing it would not
do to refuse. Mike then started out to gather the Express horses up and put
them into the stockade corral, but one big Indian, who could talk some
English, to go in the house, that the Indians would take care of the horses
and them too after they had their feast.
Holten and
Wilson were brave men, well armed, and expecting to be massacred by the
murderous red devils after their pow wow was over, closed up the only door
and window they had in the log cabin with grain sacks, leaving a few chink
holes to shoot through, determined to sell their lives as dearly as
possible. It was a trying time for those two men, but they had nerves of
steel and expected to make several reds bite the dust before they lost
their hair. They knew it would soon be time for Dennis, the Pony Rider from
the west, to arrive and they thought as he did not show up that the Indians
must have waylaid and killed him, but such was not the case.
After Dennis
came through Nipcut Canyon, which was steep and rocky, he rode fast with
the express until he came even with the knoll I have referred to, when he
pulled up his horse for a moment to get his wind, as we usually would let
our horse walk until we came into sight of the station. Dennis caught sight
of the Indians before they saw him. He comprehended the situation instantly
and whirled his horse out of sight of the Red Skins. He had passed the
soldiers who were on the road to Camp Floyd, about 5 miles back, so he rode
back as fast as possible to the command and informed Lieutenant Weed of the
situation, who immediately started for Egan Canyon with 60 Dragoons. They
rode fast until they got to the knoll.
Orders were
then given to Corporal Mitchell to take 20 men and go on to the mouth of
Egan Canyon and cut off the retreat of the redskins, but in the excitement
of the moment, Mitchell got his orders mixed up and instead of going to the
mouth of the canyon, he led his men around on the east side of the knoll
and charged the Indians. As soon as Lieutenant Weed heard the shooting he
rode around the west side of the knoll and charged right into the fight.
When Holten
and Wilson saw they were going to be rescued they did rapid shooting
themselves. The fight was soon over; 18 Indians fell to rise no more, and
the rest of the murderous horde made their escape through the canyon. Had
Corporal Mitchell not made any blunder the whole band of reds would have
been killed. The soldiers got 60 of the Indians horses; three soldiers were
killed and several were wounded, Corporal Mitchell receiving three shots,
one through the back. He recovered from his wounds, but died about six
months afterward.
After that
battle the Indians sued for peace, but did not keep it, as they committed
many murders on the road after that and during the next summer. It was
lucky for me that Dennis had my ride as I might have been discovered by the
Indians and not permitted to ride back to the command.
Egan
Canyon Pony Express Station in White Pine County Nevada
Last Updated on 07/10/2001
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