Hollenberg Station and Transportation

Hollenberg Station and Transportation. . , Hollenberg Station and Transportation , By the time Hollenberg Station was begun in 1857 or 1858, Gerat Hollenberg already had years of experience in operating at road ranch on the Oregon-California Trail. A native of Germany, he had been drawn to the gold fields of California, Australia, and South America before settling on the Black Vermillion River in Marshall County, Kansas Territory, in 1854. There he sold supplies and draft animals to travelers on their way west. , Hollenberg's new ranch here on Cottonwood Creek in Washington County was meant to service the heavy traffic from the southern branches of the trail. Wagon trains from Independence, Westport, and St. Joseph in Missouri mixed with those from Leavenworth and Atchison in Kansas. Families searching for land, miners chasing gold, teamsters hauling goods to the growing western population, and soldiers trying to keep the peace all passed by. Many stopped to buy supplies for the trail or to have their equipment repaired. Since the early 1840s streams of travelers had followed the trail. By the early 1850s as many as 70,000 people a year are thought to have followed one or another of the branches. Those who came by this site, even before the station was built, could refresh themselves and their animals with water from Cottonwood Creek and by a stay in the nearby campground. , Immigrant traffic on this part of the trail had decreased by the time Hollenberg and his wife, Sophia, located here. But the huge trains belonging to such freighters as Russell, Majors and Waddell still rumbled by continually. Perhaps more importantly, express companies had begun stagecoach service. The coaches regularly stopped at the station for a change of horses or to allow passengers to eat one of Sophia's hot meals. , Company employees also lived at the station. A bill from April 1862 shows that the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company paid Hollenberg for housing three men, as well as for feeding passengers and livestock. The meals were billed at 27 1/3 cents apiece. , During some eighteen months in 1860 and 1861, Pony Express riders sped along the trail on their wiry horses. They changed mounts at stations such as Hollenberg, placed ten to fifteen miles apart, depending on the ruggedness of the country. A fresh rider took over at every third station, slinging the mail pouch across the saddle and galloping away. , Between runs the riders rested at the station. The census of 1860 listed one Pony Express rider, John Mussy or Massy, as living at Hollenberg Station. John Witherspoon, an express driver, also was found there. Other employees tended to the crops and animals, did blacksmithing, or helped with household chores. , After the telegraph put the Pony Express out of business, Gerat and Sophia Hollenberg continued to operate the store, post office and stage station. But as traffic on the trail decreased, they turned to general farming for their livelihood. Hollenberg became an immigration agent, convincing other Germans to settle in this area. He also became a real estate dealer and a town developer founding the towns of Hanover and Hollenberg. As a leader in efforts to ensure economic development, he became involved in bringing the St. Joseph and Denver Railroad through the region. Ironically, this nearly ended the Oregon California Trail, around which his life had revolved for many years.