The Lone Elm: Land-Mark of the Prairie
Few landmarks in nineteenth century Johnson County stand out as much as the legendary Lone Elm. Located near the trail campsite that bore its name, it was a marker easily seen amidst the vast flat prairie and noted in many trail guides.
Until recently, it was commonly thought that the Lone Elm campsite went by several names including Round Grove, Caravan Grove, Elm Grove and then finally Lone Elm. The story of the name change centers on the campsite’s stand of trees, which dwindled until only one elm remained. The Lone Elm was often described in emigrant journals, but oddly enough, those who had passed the tree within days of each other, often had vastly different descriptions of the tree.
Recent research by Johnson County resident Craig Crease has proven that emigrants often confused the Lone Elm Campground (also called Round Grove) with the Elm Grove Campground (also called Caravan Grove), a few miles to the northeast. It is easier to understand the differing descriptions of the tree when there were two places that emigrants might have seen a lone elm. It also explains the two entries of Peter Burnett in 1843.
On the 22nd of May, 1843…we reached Elm Grove…This grove had but two trees, both elms, and a few dogwood bushes, which we used for fuel. This small elm was more beautiful in the wild and lonely prairie; and the large one had all its branches trimmed off for firewood
Monday, May 22—Trailed to Elm Grove, distance about ten miles. Encamped at the grove, consisting of one old elm stump…
Accounts regarding the status of the legendary Lone Elm varied over time, described as still standing without branches, fallen to the ground, or merely a stump, but the tree eventually succumbed. W.H. Davis notes in 1853 on his trip down the Santa Fe Trail:
Travelers came to look upon it [the Lone Elm] as an old friend…but in the course of time some modern vandal came along, and laid low this last of its race; and when we passed, it was all gone but a small portion of its stump, and part of that cooked our breakfast.
Memories of the Lone Elm continued at the turn of the century. On Friday, November 9, 1906 a “red letter day” commenced as the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a red granite marker at the Lone Elm Campground. Nothing remains of the original lone elm, but the marker and the street by which it was named continue the legend of the Lone Elm in Johnson County.
--ALBUM vol. 16, no. 2 (spring 2003)