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Show A PIONEER OF THE OREGON TRAIL In tho "Interesting Peoplo" department depart-ment of tho February Amerltan Magazlno appear a sketch and photograph photo-graph of Ezra Meeker, who, when seventy-six years old, set out alone from Oregon with an ox team and a pratrlo schooner, and spent nearly a year traveling with them to Indianapolis Indian-apolis tho beginning of tho old Oregon Or-egon trail. All along Uio way ho set up monuments to mark orf his historic route. In 1855 Mr. Mocker as a young man went ovor tho Oregon Ore-gon trail with his wife. Ho went In a prairie schooner hauled by oxen, and settled near Puget Sound. In 190C, at tho ago of seventy-six he wont ovor tho route again. Following Follow-ing Is an oxtract from tho artlclo about him: "Ezra Meeker wanted to retraco his route and ho wanted oxen. They wero hard to get In those days of steam and oil and electricity, but after af-ter a long search he procured, Dave and Twist. Camp Number 1 was pitched In Mr. Meeker's own frout dooryard at Puyallup, Washington, and tho realization of the dream of a Ufotlmo wan begun. "It would bo Interesting to follow Mr. Meeker and his ox team through tho innumerable small towns and cities which have sprung up along tho old trail, where, when he first traversed Its circuitous route, thoro was nothing but wilderness. Wherever Wherev-er ho went tho fame of his undertak ing had preceded him. From Wash-ington Wash-ington ho wont Into Oregon, nnd from thoro Into Idaho, and then on through Wyoming nnd Nebraska, II-'' llnols, thence Into Indiana; finally ho arrived In Indianapolis on January Janu-ary B 1907, Just eleven-, montns and sevon days from the tlmo ho Ipft his home In Puyallup., Everywhere he had oxjlted a lively Intorest In tho historic old trail and set up suitable monuments to mark tho row to. "In sixty years Mr. Meeker novor has. been sick In bod. Ho has always al-ways lived in the open air; he is not the least bit hard of hearing. Ho has never drunk Intoxicants nor experienced experi-enced a rheumatic pain. He is now eighty-three and fully expects to live to bo a hundred." |
