Elkin's Ferry Battlefield

Elkin’s Ferry Battlefield preserves a key river crossing of the 1864 Camden Expedition, where Union and Confederate forces fought for control of the Little Missouri River during the American Civil War. The ground is largely wooded bottomland, punctuated by the river itself and by Middle and Howard Creeks, giving a clear sense of the tactical problems that confronted both sides. The present county road alignment echoes the route of Major General Frederick Steele’s advancing column as it pushed south in early April 1864. The old ferry location remains discernible as a deep cut in the riverbank, a rare surviving landscape feature tied directly to the engagement. Inclusion of Elkin’s Ferry within the broader Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark underscores its importance in the larger Red River Campaign context. Flood-prone terrain and the later diversion of traffic to Interstate 30 unintentionally shielded this area from development, leaving a relatively intact battlefield where terrain, distance, and river obstacles can be studied much as they were in 1864, in relation to nearby actions such as those at Prairie D’Ane.