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 Mormon Springs - Washington County, Kansas Posted by:  The Snowdog
N 39° 46.625 W 097° 02.980
14S E 667025 N 4404835
Mormon Springs (half a mile to the west) was an important stopping point on the South Fork of the Mormon Trail - in Washington County, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WM14BFH
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/05/2021
Views: 0
Travelers along the Fort Riley-Fort Kearney Military Road would camp at a spring at the base of a sandstone bluff on Ash Creek, about half a mile west of this location. Many of the travelers inscribed their names on the cliff; these have been mostly lost to erosion. The spring still runs today, but is on private property and is not accessible to the public. This historical marker and four information signs at this location describe the springs and their history.
Marker Name: Mormon Springs
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker text:
Mormon emigrants traveling the Fort Riley-Fort Kearny Military Road (about 1090 feet southwest of this location) in the mid-1850s camped near here at a spring near the base of a sandstone bluff on Ash Creek, (about 1/2 mile west). The soft stone became a written record of their names and the dates of their arrival. The inscriptions hve been lost through erosion and vandals. By the 1930's, all that remained was a carving of a wagon wheel.
This southern route of the Mormon Trail followed the Santa Fe Trail from Westport, Missouri to 110 Mile Creek near the present day Scranton, Kansas, then northwest to Fort Riley and on north to the Oregon Trail.
From Mormon Springs, the trail turned to cross Mill creek, about eight miles west of Washington, Kansas, then followed Bowman Creek to the Nebraska Border where it joined the Oregon Trail near Hebron, Nebraska. The Military Road and the Mormon Trail, main arteries of settlements and commerce in territorial Kansas, were the first routes to link the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.
Marker Location: Washington
Name of agency setting marker: Other (Please identify in marker text)
Marker Web Address: [Web Link]
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
Official Marker Number: Not listed
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