The Mormon Trail - Fort Riley, KS - Human Migration Monuments on Waymarking.com

The Mormon trail was a heavily travelled path of immigration and commerce from the middle of the 19th century to the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. Branches of the trail took settlers to Santa Fe, Salt Lake City and to eastern Oregon.
From the plaque,
"The Mormon Trail
(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 travelled 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.
Fort Riley Historical and Archeological Society"

Who placed it?: Fort Riley Historical and Archeological Society When was it placed?: Unknown Who is honored?: Those who travelled this major migration route. Website about the Monument: Not listed

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