Murdock Site
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Murdock Site - Alda, Nebraska The Murdock site is located on the south side of the Wood River, two miles south of present-day Alda, Nebraska, and one mile southwest of the Wood River Crossing. The swales seen in the ground on this 2.4 acre site are from decades of wagon wheels, plodding livestock and pioneers on foot. They have survived because the small patch of ground between the modern road and the river was preserved for generations as pastureland.The Mormon Pioneer Party crossed the site on April 29, 1847, and William Clayton reported, "The morning very cool. There seems to be very little rain in this country and no dew. . . . After traveling about two miles came to a pretty stream of good water [Wood River], about ten feet wide on an average, but at the fording place about a rod wide. . . . We then traveled on a table or prairie gently ascending for four or five miles but very even and good traveling." During the 1860s a sawmill and dwelling, referred to as the Murdock Homestead, were located here.
Map image of the auto tour route driving directions for the Mormon Pioneer NHT across Nebraska.
NPS Image
More Mormon Pioneer NHT sites:
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Did You Know?
After leaving Ft. Bridger, the Mormon Pioneer Company followed a rough route described by mountain man Jim Bridger toward a valley on the west side of the mountains. The climb up through this canyon would take them to a high vantage point and their first glimpse of the Great Salt Lake Valley. More...