For many emigrants, Pacific Springs was the first tangible evidence that they had crossed South Pass, and pioneer Joseph Goldsborough Bruff called it “the fountain source of the Pacific streams.” The broad expanse of the pass from Pacific Springs showed that the journey to the Pacific coast was geographically half over, though the road ahead remained long and hard. The springs was a major camping spot along the trail, providing good water and grazing. A number of pioneers also died here, most having succumbed to cholera contracted elsewhere along the trail, and several graves are known in the vicinity. In the 1860s, a stagecoach and Pony Express station stood at the springs, probably in the area of the Halter and Flick Ranch, though its exact location is unknown. Some sources indicate that the station was burned by Indians in 1862. Pacific Springs later became an important source for early livestock operators and remains so today. The springs lie on private property owned by John Hay, and the Hay family has been involved in ranching in southwestern Wyoming for five generations dating to the 1870s.