OCR Text |
Show - " V-yyTVTTT-T i ra s l v K I i X V. --- - - - .V'- 158?- $ - " r JZ?22A7rAttJL?JR: OirjWJ&ZZmAtf? iTRAlTr(rrom Ye Vhirewfy te 'af arti' aAmerica" 1 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON -..jjfflj OMIXG as It did near the Eightieth anniversary of 't t the discovery of gold In f California, the announce- 1 f'Jfe&f rnent of a project, spon-sored spon-sored by a Californian, j?$r) Charles E. Davis of 4'Ji2&i Sacniinento, to tal;e an fSrniV Imniigrant train of 300 S -(f'fflfjji'i Pra,rie Sfhooners from ' Indepenclenc-e, JIo.. along fcJ?2l the overland trail of pioneer days as a :DK';:ns of aiding in marking historic places and awakening more interest In Ihese ilaoes. brings to public attention atten-tion again a route which has well been bi lled the "road that won an empire." em-pire." That Is the historic Oregon T.-ail. once known to thousands be-ciiuse be-ciiuse of the book by Parkman. the historian, but In modern times made b familiar word to millions through Emerson Hough's novel "The Cov--i'd Wagon" and the movie lhat was E'ile from that hook. This latest project Is only one of several of a similar nature which t'-'vebeen undertaken In recent years, fill years ago the Old Oregon Trail . -jociation was organized at Baker, Ore., "to perpetuate the name of the ild Oregon Trail by having that name designated by the states through Tvliich it passes and also designated by the congress of the United States as a national highway and, by so dty 1ng. do honor to the memory of the rave pioneer men and women who faced the perils of a savage la-od to carve out new homes for themselves In the 'Oregon Country,' a.'d to make It American territory; to permanently permanent-ly mark the road with the design of the Ox Team and Covered Wagon so lhat Its history may he preserved and he a constant reminder to the jonnger generation of the hardships eri!"i-cr h- those who blazed the way and laid the foundation o' our present pres-ent day civilization." In 102:! n pageant was staged at Jlcachani. Ore., and President Hard-tag Hard-tag formally dedicated the Old Ores'' Ore-s'' n Trail by unveiling a monument at Emigrant Springs, one of tin most fammis camping spots on the trail. 5' .-p that time the associaiion. ami an allied organization, the Oregon Trail Memorial association with head-. head-. ' quarters in New York, has been en- g:'::cd in an effort tc get nllicial recognition rec-ognition from congress of 'heir project pro-ject for marking the trail and per-petaating per-petaating It as a broad motor highway. high-way. The p.-esiilent of the memorial association Is Ezra yoekor. the nine-t.v nine-t.v -seven-year-rid pioneer who first went over the trail In 1S."2. He has (..me over It five times In the last twenty years. ITIs first two trips :n that time. In 1007 anil 1011, were Ii: do by ox team, as was his Journey In 1s.-2 when It took five months to c or the distance at aa average speed f wo miles an hour. In 1015 nn' ."""""""":':;:;'::;:::" : ' " : ; The Oregon Trail : ! X ; Two hundred wagons, rolling out to ;' Oregon '' Breaking through the gopher holes. ' lurching wide and free, V Crawling up the mountain pass. Jolt- Ing, grumbling rumbling on, Two hundred wagons, rolling to the H Bea" H From Enst and South and North they flock, to muster, row on row : : A fleet of ten-score prairie ships be- ;; side Missouri's flow. ;; The bullwhips crack, the oxen strain, .. the canvas-hooded fites. ;; Are off upon the long. long trail of ;. A sixteen hundred miles. .i : The women hold the guldlnt-Unea; ; 'I beside the rodtlng steers With goad and ready rifle walk the ; j bearded pioneers V Through clouds of dust beneath the ', : sun, through floods of sweeping :j rain :f Across the Kansas prairie land, across Nebraska's plain. :: Two hundred wagons, rolling out to :: Oregon : : Curved around the camp nre flame r: ;; at halt when day Is done. il Rest awhile beneath the stars, yoke ; ! airaln and lumber on, Two hundred wagons, rolling with $ ; the sun ! : i '; Among the barren buttes they wind ; V beneath the Jealofts view V Of Blackfoot, Pawnee. Omaha. Ara- ; 'i pahoe and Sioux. No savage threat may che:k their course, no river deep and wide; They swim the Platte, they ford -J the Snake, they cross the :j :: Great Divide. : :: They march as once from India's vales through Asia's mountain :: door .. With shield and spear on Europe's plain their fathers marched .. ; before. ; ! They march where leap the an- ! telope and storm the buffalo ; V Still Westward as their fathers ; marched ten thousand years ' H ag0- J Two hundred wagons, rolling out to 5 Oregon Creeping down the dark defll be-: be-: : low the mountain crest. Surglntr through the brawling stream. : : ;: lumring. plunging, forging on. .i Two hundred wagons, rolling toward ! the West. :: ; ! Now tolls the dusty caravan with $ swinging wagon poles M V Where Walla Walla pours atong ! V where broad Columbia rolls. ; V The long haired trapper's face ; 'f grows dark and scowls the ; :J painted brave: $ Where now the beaver builds his dam the wheat and rye shall wave. : : The British trader shakes his head -J .: and weighs his nation's loss, :j For wliere those hardy settlers come : ; ! the Stars and Stripes will toss : ; i Then block the wheels, unyoke the Q ; steers: the prize Is his who :; dares: ! The cabins rise, the fields are sown. :; V and Oregon Is theirs! .. v : V They will take, they will hold. V p.v tlle spade In the mold. " ; V By the seed In the soil. ; 'j By the sweat and the toll, :J n- the plow in the loam. By the School and the Homel p Tw hundred wagons, rolling out to :: Ori'gon, y :: Two hundred wagons, ranging free :: and far. : ! Two hundred wacons. rumbling. :: ! grumbling. roJ'.Ing on. :: ! Two hundred wagons, following a .. V Star! ; Arthur Gulterman In "I Sing the .. '" Pioneer." . , ' (E P Dutton and Company.) : ; :;::::;::;:;::::::..:..... HCfi he retraced his path In an auto-mnbile auto-mnbile and in 102-1 he went over the trail in an airplane, continuing his ll'glii to Washington where he was received by President Coolidge. after aft-er having spanned the continent in seventy-two hours. The Oregon Trail In reality had two eastern termini, although the best known one was Independence, Mo. The other was at Council Bluffs, Iowa, (formerly Kanesville, Iowa) opposite .Omaha, Neb. From Independence the route ran through what is now Kansas City (formerly Westport) to Gardner, Kan., wliere the two historic western trails, the Oregon and the Santa Fe, parted. From Gardner the road ran past what is now Topeka, thence northwest into Nebraska through the present town of Hebron and on until it reached the Platte river near the present city of Grand Island. It ran along the south bank of the Platte until it reached what is now the city of North Platte where It crossed over to the north side. It was here joined by the trail from Council Bluffs (Kanesville), and followed the north bank of the Platte to that point. The "road to Oregon" continued up the North Platte to Fort Laramie in Wyoming, through the present city of Casper and on past Independen-e Rock, wldch was called the ''Register of the Trail," because so many of the emigrants carved their names or initials in-itials on this great landmark. From there it angled south and west until it crossed the Continental divide at South Pass, where the town of Pacific Pa-cific is now located. From here led two routes, one making a bend to the south, past the present city of Kemmerer, the other going more nearly near-ly straight west over what was known as the Sublette Cut-Off and both coming com-ing together at what is now the town of Border. Entering Idaho the trail passed through the present towns of Mont-pelier, Mont-pelier, and Soda Springs, on to where old Fort Hall stood at the Junction of the I'ort N'enf and the Snake rivers. Following the south bank of the Snake, it went through what are now tl. - towns of American Falls, Twin Falls, Filer and Buhl, where It went into the hills and emerged again at the river near the present town of Glenn's Ferry, where it crossed tiie Snake. From there it passed what are now Mountain Home, Boise. Nampa, Caldwell and Parma, near where old Fort Boise was located and where it crossed the Snake a second time. From there it entered the present pres-ent state of Oregon, went past Vale and Ontario, through Huntington at the month of the Burnt River canyon, up the canyon into the Powder valley val-ley near the present city of Baker. From here it w-ent through the Grande Ronde valley, over the Blue monn- i tains past tl)3 town of Meacham and on past the present site of Pendleton to the "mntilla. From there it fol lowed along the south bank of the Columbia, although at the Dalles the emigrants usually took to bouts and rafts or to the Barlow road on through to Oregon City and Portland. From there they spread out over the Wil-llamette Wil-llamette valley, the Clatsop plains and north Into the present state of Washington. Wash-ington. "And Oregon was theirs!" |