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Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
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.
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| NPS Image |
| Map image of the auto tour route driving directions for the Mormon Pioneer NHT across Nebraska. |
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Did You Know?
Joseph Smith and several other high church leaders were jailed here and placed under the guard of local units of the Illinois State Militia. A few days later, on June 27, 1844, a mob of some 200 men stormed the Carthage jail and murdered Joseph and his brother, Hyrum Smith.
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Last Updated: October 31, 2006 at 12:07 EST |
