Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker recognized business opportunities and was willing to take risks. He settled in the Puyallup Valley and planted his first hops, eventually traveling to New York and London to open new markets. In 1882, following widespread crop failure elsewhere, desperate brewers offered Pacific coast growers astronomical prices, and the “hop king’s” firm became the largest exporter in the country. As an outstanding entrepreneur on a local and global scale and through his involvement in regional issues such as women’s suffrage and Chinese expulsion, Meeker helped transform the landscape, economics, and politics of his Puget Sound home.
New and expanded First Edition includes a host of improvements with revised historical introductions, plate inscriptions, new and updated driving instructions, new and revised Trail Descriptions, additional Overland Narratives, and Supplemental Maps. New features are numerous photographs of the trail, 13 Section Maps showing the trail routes and sites, brief historical Commentaries and Tales, and hiking opportunities at four trail locations.
Follow the gold seekers as they rush to California, the land of new opportunities. Share their trials as they cross such inhospitable barriers as the 40 Mile Desert, experience their joy as they get closer to their dream. Fantastic photographs accompany the text.
Where did the Oregon Trail really go? The answer is not simple, as there was no single route, just a destination: Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Across the street from Barton Store in Clackamas County is a triangular sign bearing the National Read More …
James Marshall, an emigrant from New Jersey by way of Oregon, was overseeing the construction of a sawmill. On January 24th, 1848, Marshall was inspecting a ditch when he noticed flecks of gold in the mud. The year 1848 started Read More …
An American legacy is at risk. The historic trails trod by half a million pioneers, gold rushers, adventurers, families—people in pursuit of a better life in the West—are under constant threat from development, including energy-related projects. Many miles of wagon Read More …
Have you have ever thought about throwing all of your possessions into the back of your car and heading out for parts unknown? Each spring for 30 years emigrants gathered at points along the great Missouri water line dividing the Read More …
