Utah Centennial Studies

 

Ghost Riders and Rest Stops Packet B

 

RIVERBED STATION

Dear Pupils,

Riverbed Station is not a beautiful place to visit. It is on a wide dry riverbed that once connected the Great Salt Lake and Sevier Lake. No water greeted visitors here, but only rough shelters with no food or lodging. A deep well provided water that most people thought was undrinkable. The station did serve a useful purpose. In both directions the road climbed uphill through deep sand and stages needed to rest and water their teams. Because it was isolated, Riverbed Station was frequently the scene of stagecoach holdups. One robber fooled the stage driver by laying face down in the sand by the side of the road. When the driver stopped to help him, the bandit jumped up aiming a gun, stole the strongbox and the weapons and told the stage to leave. Porter Rockwell was notified and went after the outlaw. He found the camp and saw the robber dig up three bars of gold. Rockwell arrested him and when the bandit tried to escape he was shot. Later Rockwell heard that more much more gold was missing but no one could find the place where the outlaw had hidden the loot.