Mormon Trail and Elkhorn River Crossing

Bennington sits right in the middle of the covered wagon corridor called the "Mormon Trail" and “Elkhorn Crossing” is located just 7 miles to the west.  The Elkhorn River represented the last "deep" river for pioneers heading west.  The Platte River was shallow and wide.   Often, wagon trains would have to "ferry" wagons across the muddy stream and in later years a ferry was established and operated until permanent bridges were built. 

Kimball’s Official Guide (1997) suggested the exact location is unknown; some believe the Mormons crossed near the Highway 36 Bridge and others suggest it further south or downstream near Waterloo.  The confusion is shared by maps showing the Mormon Trail at several locations; the majority south of the present site of Elk City.  

Undoubtedly, this probably is somewhere in the ‘middle’ of a 6 mile wide corridor. The pioneers crossed near Waterloo in 1847 and in subsequent years the crossing moved further upstream, west of Elk City (depending upon river conditions) providing them a more direct route to Fremont and the Platte River.

Their route from Winter Quarter in 1847 appeared to have headed northwest to the area near the North Omaha Airport (72 St and Highway 36) and then went directly south to the Benson area and then meandered along the route which later became Military Road.   Military Road is located 1 mile south of Bennington and heads directly to Elk City.  Upon reaching Elk Ridge the route headed south and crossed the river near Waterloo.

This is substantiated in Howard Egan’s journal of the 1848 migration.  He stated the “48” pioneers crossed 6 miles upstream of where the “47” pioneers crossed."  This is speculated to be just west of Elk City and near the site suggested by the Historical Road Marker (1932).    After crossing the Elkhorn River, they moved their livestock herd about 2 miles south along the west river bank.  They were raided by Indians and a skirmish occurred 4 miles further south.  This would be 6 miles, which is where Egan said the previous year’s caravan crossed.   This was Egan’s 3^rd trip so he knew this trail and that is probably why they were heading south to hit the route he had taken earlier.

Some of the apostles returned to Winter Quarters for forgotten supplies and possibly additional settlers and on the way back followed a more direct route which probably went just north of Bennington.   Instead of turning south at the North Omaha Airport they probably continued due west which saved them about 15 miles or a good day traveling.   

Old Bennington residents said the wagon ruts from the Mormon’s could still be seen in the prairie near Pawnee Road a little more than a mile north of town.  Prior (pre-1880) to the settlement of Bennington, there was a settlement just north of town call Hayes which had a post office and store.  Undoubtedly, it had to be located on or very near this trail.  

I found references to Military Road as being the ‘Lower Mormon Trail”.   The Military Road was the first "established" road that connected Omaha to Western outposts such as Fort Kearney.  It was surveyed and established in 1857 and the historic marker on Highway 36 suggests it was about a quarter mile downstream of the current road.  This would be almost due west of the Elk City Cemetery.  It is quite possible the cemetery laid next to the trail before it dropped down into the river valley. 


Elk City is one of the oldest towns in the area and was a major supply hub for early settlers heading west.  It represented the last outpost before dropping down into the Elkhorn/Platte River Valley and hosted one the largest dairies in the west and the last opportunity to buy fresh milk, cheese and other supplies.  When the railroad was built through the river valley in the late 1870, Elk City was by passed and simply whithered.  Only a few people live there today.  

The town's cemetery is found on the ridge that would undoubtedly overlooked the river valley if the landscape wasn't dominated by forest.  In those days, lightning fires kept this land primarily grassland prairie.  The cemetery contains some graves dating back to the 1860's and the older portion appears to contain unmarked graves.   The stone below marks the grave of a child that was 1 month and 15 days old when they died in 1869.