Steptoe’s Military Camp, Godbe’s Smelter

(At spring 700 feet S.W.)

A detachment of the U.S. Army, the first to enter the Rocky Mountain Region, consisting of two companies of artillery, 85 dragoons, 130 teamsters, herders and hostlers from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, under command of Col. E.J. Steptoe, reached this point September 2, 1854. They erected quarters, stables and corrals, cut 200 cords of wood and stored 200 tons of hay for their 450 mules and 300 horses. The camp was located on the east shore of Lake Shambip (Rush Lake). The detachment left for Benecia, California, in early April, 1855. An Overland Stage Station was located here from 1868 to the early 1870’s. Wm. S. Godbe’s Chicago Ore smelter was erected here in 1871 and operated until about 1880. The town was known as Slagtown. The present line of the Union Pacific Railroad reached here in 1902.

The text above is from this historic marker which is #97 of the UPTLA Markers and was later adopted to be an SUP Marker. It is located just south of Stockton, Utah