Near Dalton, Nebraska, Mud Springs stood at the mouth of a canyon between the Lodge Pole Creek and North Platte River valleys, where its springs made it an important stop on a dry westbound trail. Established in 1859, it served stage travel, briefly functioned as a Pony Express station in 1860 and 1861, and then continued as a transcontinental telegraph station and stage stop. It is best known for the Battle of Mud Springs, fought there from February 4 to 6, 1865, when U.S. soldiers at the station were attacked by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribesmen and the telegraph helped summon reinforcements. Today the district preserves this frontier site's archaeological remains.