For many years, several Indian tribes populated the area around Elkhart Hill. When James Latham, the first white settler, arrived in 1819, the area became known as Elk Heart Grove. Two years after the arrival of the railroad, John Shockey founded Elkhart City in 1855, and in 1979 the village's name changed to Elkhart. Among its early residents were John Dean Gillett, Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby, Captain Adam H. Bogardus, and Garland (Jake) Stahl. Elkhart is known for a tree-covered hill rising 777 feet above sea level from the flat Illinois prairie. Geologically, the hill is a glacial moraine from a late Illinoian Age ice advance and is notable for its comparatively large size. The hill served as a regional landmark for Native Americans and European settlers. Edwards Trace, or Old Indian Trail, flanked Elkhart Hill and was used for thousands of years by Native Americans. By 1711, French priests and trappers traveled the route, and it later became a major path for pioneers in the early 1800s. Little remains of the at least 3,000-year-old trail except for a preserved remnant near Springfield and two distinct fragments on Elkhart Hill.