After the last crossing of the North Platte River in the present Casper area, twenty to twenty-five miles east of here, wagons on the Oregon-California Trail entered a dry, dreary alkali area where fresh water was scarce. Willow Springs was the first dependable source of good water after leaving the river. For wagons it was normally a two-day drive from the river to these springs and to Willow Creek, their drainage. Two main alternate routes came from the Casper area, and from their junction at Iron Creek, eleven miles northeast of here, the Oregon-California Trail followed a single track to Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River. Nearly 400,000 covered wagon emigrants, the Overland Stage route, and the Pony Express passed by way of Willow Springs. James Shields reached the springs on June 8, 1850, and wrote that after moving onward three miles to Willow Springs, he found about four springs of excellent clear and cool water, about one-quarter of a mile apart, surrounded by flowers, roses, cottonwood, and willow trees, with the last spring especially beautiful and its water clear as crystal and delicious in flavor. Sir Richard Burton, traveling on the Salt Lake stage, reached the springs on August 17, 1860, and wrote that they nooned at Willow Springs, a little place with a shed and a bunk but no corral, where the rancheros had been plundered of their bread and dried meat by a petty thief; he added that the water at Willow Springs was unusually good, although there was nothing else.