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| Landmark #680 | Sacramento County | Visited: March 21, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque where Murphy’s Corral once stood! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: This is the site of the beginning of the United States’ conquest of California. On June 10, 1846, American settlers led by Ezekiel Merritt overpowered Mexican soldiers under Lieutenant Francisco Arce and took their horses from the corral of the Murphy Ranch on the north bank of the Cosumnes River. The “Bear Flag” action in Sonoma followed on June 14, 1846.
OTHER TIDBITS: Specifically, this ranch was owned by Martin Murphy, Jr, whose family was in the Stephenson-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first party to cross the Sierras by covered wagon! Before moving on to found the city of Sunnyvale and built the first true American home in California and host California’s largest social event of the 19th century, Mr. Murphy settled in this area of Elk Grove along the Monterey Trail. Here, he set up corrals for travelers to rest their horses, and among these travelers came John C. Frémont. Nervous about his presence in California, Mexican authorities ordered Lieutenant Francisco Arce to transfer 300 horses from Mission San Rafael to Mission Santa Clara. It was when they stopped for the night at Mr. Murphy’s corral that Ezekiel Merrit saw his opportunity and rustled up some horses! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Near SW corner of Grant Line Rd and Hwy 99 Elk Grove, CA 95758 ANNOTATIONS: 10557 W Stockton Blvd From Los Angeles: ~370mi (596km) — 6.2hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |
I was looking for the marker and now found it far from its original spot due to the rebuilding of the area and that it seems to be nearly discarded condition the stone is tilted and there are weeds nearly growing over it. the site it is at now is the wrong area and was moved due to the construction some years ago and its historic site shifted due to the new highway ramp. It needs to be fixed and to have it return closer to the sport it was posted to. If not for other marking it with the game Ingress Get tagging it I can’t see how anyone could find it as it looks like discarded cement waste.
Thanks for letting me know. What a shame! That’s pretty common, I’ve found. Do you have updated coordinates for the marker?