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Plum Creek Massacre Site


category : Battlefields
After camping just two miles south and east of where the Plum Creek emptied into the Platte River on August 7, 1864, the Morton party set out at 6 o'clock in the morning. They had joined with nine other wagons the night before to make a train of 12. Nancy Morton's husband, Thomas, her brother, William Fletcher, and cousin John Fletcher, were also on the trip, and Thomas was asleep as they started out. As Mrs. Morton drove the wagon she saw something approaching, but could not make it out in the distance. Soon she realized it was an Indian attack. All 11 men on the wagon train were killed as Nancy Morton watched. She was wounded by two arrows which she later removed by herself. She and a young boy, Daniel Marble, son of one of the other men on the trip, were taken captive and began a long and violent journey across four states.


After six months and several attempts, Nancy Morton was ransomed from the Indians for a prized horse and some trade goods. She returned to Iowa and within a year she remarried. Later in her life she set down the events of those fright-filled six months, and they form the basis for the massacre book now available from the Dawson County Museum.


Address: Northwest on Highway 23 near Eustis
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Come visit us in Elwood, Nebraska

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Gosper County Courthouse

Gosper County was organized in 1873 with Daviesville the first county seat. The community retained that standing until 1884 when a county election made Homerville the county seat. With construction of the Burlington Railroad in the county beginning in 1886

Elwood, NE Historic Courthouses

Lakeside Country Club

Lakeside Country Club is a semi-private course located immediately south of Johnson Lake and lying along the entire length of its dam. It is an 18-hole Bent grass course with water in play, built in 1967

Elwood, NE Golf Courses

Gallagher and Phillips Canyon Lakes

Gallagher Canyon (400 acres) and Plum Creek (320 acres) offer good spring crappie fising in the coves, as well as channel and flathead catfish. Drum and carp are common catches here. Both lakes have gravel boat ramps.

Gallagher Canyon is located 10 miles west of Elwood on Highway 23;

Elwood, NE Recreation

Gosper County Carnival

Elwood also boasts it own home-based, annual Lions/Gosper County Carnival held the last weekend of July. It's an excellent place to bring your kids to enjoy the rides (only 75 cents per ticket)

Elwood, NE Festivals

Plum Creek Massacre Site

After camping just two miles south and east of where the Plum Creek emptied into the Platte River on August 7, 1864, the Morton party set out at 6 o'clock in the morning. They had joined with nine other wagons the night before to make a train of 12. Nancy Morton'

Elwood, NE Battlefields

Things to do Battlefields near Elwood, NE

Plum Creek Massacre Site

After camping just two miles south and east of where the Plum Creek emptied into the Platte River on August 7, 1864, the Mort...