Meadow Grove

The Mallet brothers were bound for Santa Fe. Pierre and Paul Mallet left Kaskaskia in the Illinois country in 1739 with six companions and horses packed with trade goods, went up the Missouri to the Arikara villages, then turned back to the Pawnee villages on the Loup and set out from there on May 29. They followed the Platte and South Platte, crossed to the Arkansas, met a Comanche village on July 5 and came to Picuris Pueblo. Santa Fe kept them nine months before Mexico City refused their trade.

What the plaque says

Meadow Grove Near here, at a point midway between the source of the Elkhorn River and its entry into the Platte, is the town of Meadow Grove. The Elkhorn Valley has long been an important passageway for travelers and settlers. In 1739, the Mallet brothers made the first recorded journey through this region. James Mackay, employed by the Spanish, came through part of the Elkhorn Valley in 1796. These early explorers named the river Corne de Cerf, French for "Elk's Horn." The Elkhorn attracted settlers of varied origins, many from settlements to the east. In 1879, the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad extended its track through this area. One of the first signs of the establishment of permanent settlement in any region was the construction of a gristmill. P. V. Lewis, who came to Nebraska in 1869, constructed a mill on Buffalo Creek near here in 1883, using millstones imported from France. Farmers brought grain to the mill from miles around, making it a place for meeting friends as well as milling grain. Lewis later platted the town of Meadow Grove. This marker erected in memory of all Elkhorn Valley pioneers. Lewis Family Descendants Historical Land Mark Council

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Neligh Mill State Historic Site — 17 mi
  A brick flour mill on the Elkhorn, begun in 1873, that sold its flour as Gold Medal until 1940, ground until 1969, and still has its original 1880s equipment in place.

More markers nearby

• Battle Creek — 7.1 mi
• The Skala Timber House — 7.4 mi
• The Meridian Highway: From Canada to Mexico — 15 mi
• St. Paul's Lutheran Church — 16 mi