There has been little archaeological research on the expansion of American civilization into the Great Basin; the present study helps to fill that void by examining the archaeological records of two pony express stations in central Nevada. The first part of the report presents the evidence for identifying the archaeological sites of Cold Springs and Sand Springs as the pony express stations with the same names documented in the written record. After concluding that the sites are, indeed, the same, the study examines the stations as archaeological sites formed through a series of natural and cultural processes. Both architectural evidence and stratigraphic deposits are considered. Artifacts left in the stations are next considered as clues to the human activities that once took place; the spatial arrangement of activities is studied, along with the possibility of identifying a distinctive "pony express station pattern" in the archaeological record. The report concludes with an analysis of faunal and floral remains, the use of soil chemical patterns to recognize human activity, and a discussion of the significance of the pony express station sites to historic preservation.