Inscription
(South Fork)
Between 1846 and 1869, thousands of Mormon immigrants traversed the Great Plains enroute to sanctuary in the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. The main route ran through Nebraska, paralleling the Platte River.A cholera epidemic in the fall of 1853 caused the bulk of the immigrants to seek a new pathway west. Mormon wagon and handcart companies traveled from Westport, Missouri, down the Santa Fe Trail to 110-Mile Creek crossing, then across the prairie into Geary County and Fort Riley and on north to link up with the main Mormon route.
Used heavily by Mormon wagon trains in 1854, the route descended diagonally down the face of Grant Ridge just south of Interstate 70, crossed Marshall Army Air Field and forded the Kansas River. It then crossed the Main Post portion of Fort Riley and crested the rimrock area behind the post headquarters. From there the trail ascended Custer Hill.
The trail was used heavily by the military, settlers and freighters after the Mormons abandoned the route. The northern segment became known as the Fort Kearney Road in 1858.
This trail was one of the first connecting routes between the Santa Fe and Oregon trails and was a main artery of settlement and commerce in territorial Kansas.
Details
| HM Number | HMTHT |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Mormon Pioneer Trail series |
| Tags | |
| Placed By | Fort Riley Historical and Archaeological Society |
| Marker Condition |   7 out of 10 (1 reports) |
| Date Added | Saturday, October 18th, 2014 at 7:13pm PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 14S E 693405 N 4323352 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 39.03785000, -96.76540000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 2.271', W 96° 45.924' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 2' 16.26" N, 96° 45' 55.44" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 785 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 1524 Henry Dr, Junction City KS 66441, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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Show me all markers in: Junction City, KS | Geary County | 66441 | Kansas | United States of America
I Saw The Marker
This marker is located at Freedom Park, south of the Kansas River and Marshall Army Air Field. An irony of sorts when you look north across I-70 from at the air field where it's located at the bottom of a steep hill where you can hike up to see an army tank, all weapons of war.
Oct 27, 2016 at 5:46pm PDT by wendee36
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