KENNEWICK, WA – Happy National Oregon Day! We visited the Oregon Trail in Baker City, Oregon where history can still be seen, literally.
The trails run from Missouri to Oregon when the pioneers were making their way West from the East back in the mid-1800’s. The wagon road stretched over 2,100 miles from Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The reason for this was due to the economy’s decline, the mining opportunities in the West and how cheap it was to purchase land in Oregon.
The road took you through deserts, mountains and endless prairie. This trip had to be planned a year in advance due to how long it took travelers to travel westward. Anyone who was willing to make the trip had to start traveling during Spring to make it before the Winter season. The worst part was they we’re only able to carry a few belongings and supplies necessary to survive the next 6 months.
Oregon Park Ranger, Casey Tyler, told me the trail emigrants would sometimes have to leave their belongings behind to lighten their wagon. “It takes you actually a full year to get ready for this because you have to buy a wagon, you have to buy 50 pounds of bacon, 50 pounds of rice, 50 pounds of cracked corn,” he explained.
This wasn’t an easy trip. During the summer months the water sources dried up, oxen died and families suffered from dehydration and starvation.
Here’s a fun fact: Taylor says one of the trail’s most famous pioneers, Ezra Meeker, was an Ohio native who made that trip several times by wagon, train, automobile and airplane!
The Oregon Trail Museum in Baker City is currently closed because of renovations and have yet to release that date. The trails are free and open to visit at any time of the day if you want to take a walk around the historical area.
For more information you can visit https://www.blm.gov/learn/interpretive-centers/national-historic-oregon-trail-interpretive-center
