We regret to announce that the Elm tree was destroyed during 1997.

I was somewhat dismayed when checking the link for the Louis Vieux elm to discover that your site states it was destroyed in 1997. I am a descendent of Louis Vieux and this past fall met with members of the Oregon/California Trail Association for a lunch under the elm. True, it has lost a lot of branches, but there's one large, healthy-looking one left, as of November 2003 anyway.

Louis Vieux Elm & Vermillion River Crossing -- This elm was the largest living Elm tree certified by the National Register of Big Trees of the American Forestry Association. The elm tree is named after Louis Vieux who operated a ferry and later built a bridge across the Vermillion River a few yards from the tree.

A cemetery on the east bank of the Vermillion River contains ornate headstones of emigrants who died from cholera along Oregon Trail.