64

Jesse Applegate

BEAVER BOARD INFORMATION

Photo: Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Jesse A. Applegate 1880s
Jesse Applegate 1811-1888
Pioneer, statesman, philosopher. Leader of migration to Oregon in 1843. Leader of Provisional Government of Oregon in 1844-1849. First Surveyor General in 1844. Trailblazer, Fort Hall, Idaho, to Willamette Valley, in 1846. Member of Constitutional Convention for State of Oregon in 1857. Settled here in 1849, one-half mile west of this spot. His house was scene of first Court of Provisional Government, Southern District, 1852.

FACT BLOCK

LOCATION:
Comstock
Douglas COUNTY

GPS COORDINATES: 43.74929,-123.17605

OTIC topic:
Settlers

beaver board text CODED AS:
NO WHITE SUPREMACY ACKNOWLEDGMENT
-
no MULTICULTURAL
information

PUBLISHED ONLINE:
FEBRUARY 12, 2011
65

john day river crossing

BEAVER BOARD INFORMATION

Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington from Portland, America
Lower John Day Wild and Scenic River, just upriver from the Rock Creek Recreation Site (34610585800).jpg
Emigrants on the old Oregon Trail forded the John Day River near this spot from 1843 to 1863. Thomas Scott established a ferry near here in 1858. Daniel G. Leonard built a bridge near here in 1866. Thousands of settlers passed this way until the completion of the railroad in 1884.

FACT BLOCK

LOCATION:
Grass Valley Canyon
Sherman COUNTY

GPS COORDINATES: 45.588471,-120.409808

OTIC topic:
Oregon Trail
(part of oregon trail)

beaver board text CODED AS:
NO WHITE SUPREMACY ACKNOWLEDGMENT
-
NO MULTICULTURAL
information

published online:
october 11, 2012
66

la grande

BEAVER BOARD INFORMATION

Phot :Asotoole

Mt. Emily looming over the city of La Grande, Oregon.jpg
 OTIC Text:
The site of today’s Birnie Park was an important encampment for emigrants preparing for their first ascent into the Blue Mountains. Ceramic monuments at the memorial park describe the emigrants’ experiences along the Trail. An Oregon Trail memorial set by preservationist Ezra Meeker stands at the corner of “B” and Walnut Street.

BIRNIE PARK MARKERS:
On this site many emigrants pulled off the Oregon Trail (present-day B Avenue) for a night of well-earned rest. They often found Indians from the Nez Perce or Cayuse tribes awaiting their arrival; not in ambush, as many feared, but with friendly greetings and an eagerness to trade. “Thousands of horses- many of them curiously spotted feed upon the mountain side. Hundreds of Indians of the Nez Percies tribe, are camped here, & lazily greet us with invitations to swap… The women… laugh and chatter among themselves like just so many gay school girls… The men are all fine specimens of physical development, & have not yet become contaminated with the vices of white men…”
-Harriet Talcott Buckingham September 8, 1851

Many of the Oregon Trail emigrants carried fond memories of this lush valley. By the late 1850’s the good land in the Willamette had been claimed and a reverse migration began. Autumn of 1861 saw a small group of families and single men building cabins in the Mt. Glen area of the valley. The following Spring, Ben and Frances Brown, S.M. Black and William Chaffin staked out claims along the trail. Brown’s cabin stood a few blocks west of here, near the southeast corner of C and Cedar streets. The village that grew around it, first called Brown’s Town, was later renamed La Grande. 

Having endured miles of alkali and sage, the Oregon Trail Pioneers paused at the summit near Ladd Canyon to admire the breathtaking oasis of the Grande Ronde Valley. The trail down the hill was also breathtaking. With chains the emigrants rough-locked the rear wheels of their wagons, then skidded and bounced wide-eyed to the valley floor. “... We came in sight of the Grande Ronde, a beautiful level valley, nearly round, I should think… but O! the getting down to it over a long, steep and stony hill, is equal to any getting downstairs I ever saw, and I have seen some on this road.”
-Parthenia Blank October 5, 1852

The farmers cast appraising eyes at the waving stands of head-high grass and were tempted to linger. But provisions were short, the season was late. Still ahead lay the Blue Mountains and the chance of early snows. Daybreak found the oxen yoked for the grueling climb out of the valley. “It was a terrible struggle for our oxen, but they made it- those noble beasts! When we reached the top exhausted, we encamped in a lovely spot among a grove of pines, with plenty of grass… I am confident that the divine spirit is ever with us in these hours of great trial.”
-Esther Hanna August 13, 1852

FACT BLOCK

LOCATION:
La Grande
Union COUNTY

GPS COORDINATES: 45.332116,-118.071957

OTIC topic:
Oregon Trail 
(part of oregon trail)

beaver board text CODED AS:
NO WHITE SUPREMACY ACKNOWLEDGMENT
-
false MULTICULTURAL information

published online:
OCTOBER 10, 2012