National Register of Historic Places

Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village

La Platte, Sarpy County, Nebraska
Listed
March 16, 1972
Type
Site
Period
Colonial
Ref No.
72000757

About this property

The Moses Merrill Mission, also known as the Oto Mission, was located about eight miles west of Bellevue, Nebraska. It was built and occupied by Moses and Eliza Wilcox Merrill, the first missionaries resident in Nebraska. The first building was part of facilities built in 1835 when the United States Government removed the Otoe about eight miles southwest of Bellevue. Merrill's goal was to convert the local Otoe tribe to Christianity; he had learned the language and translated the Bible and some hymns into Otoe. The first log cabin had to be replaced after it burned, but by 1835 they had built a combined school/church building. After Merrill died in 1840 from tuberculosis, the Otoe left the mission and moved their village. His wife Eliza Merrill returned to the East with their son. Settlers used the cabin into the 1860s. As of 2005, the only remainders of the second and larger mission building are its original chimney and the cottonwood trees planted by Eliza Merrill. As of July 2016, the last remaining cottonwood tree was torn down. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The state has placed a highway historical marker near the former site of the Oto Mission.

Location

La Platte, Sarpy County, Nebraska

Categories

HISTORIC - ABORIGINALHISTORIC - NON-ABORIGINALEDUCATIONRELIGION
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Questions about this property

When was Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village listed on the National Register?

Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1972.

What type of historic resource is Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village?

Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village?

The period of significance for Moses Merrill Mission and Oto Indian Village is recorded as the colonial era.

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