14
DECEMBER 1–8, 2021
CULTURE & HERITAGE
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF EASTERN OREGON
Take a stroll through history
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
BAKER CITY — Friday brings
a chance to learn some of the
local lore and history thanks to
a new program by the National
Historic Oregon Trail Interpre-
tive Center.
“This is a project I’ve wanted
to do for about eight months,”
said Casey Taylor, a ranger at
the center.
Taylor will lead a walking
history talk at 6 p.m. on Friday,
Dec. 3, starting at the Oregon
Trail Shop, 2015 Main St. This
coincides with the First Friday
art walk, when new art shows
open at local galleries.
The Interpretive Center,
which is located 5 miles east of
Baker City, is closed for more
than two years to receive an en-
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G L A C I E R C O L D • FA W N F R E S H
HISTORY WALK
Casey Taylor, a ranger at the
National Historic Oregon
Trail Interpretive Center, will
lead a history walk in down-
town Baker City on Friday,
Dec. 3. The tour starts at
6 p.m. at the Oregon Trail
Shop, 2015 Main St.
Lisa Britton/Go! Magazine
Casey Taylor, a ranger at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, will talk about how the history of Baker
City and the who built downtown buildings during a talk on Dec. 3.
ergy-efficient upgrade. During
the closure, the center will open
a temporary exhibit in March
2022 inside the Baker Heritage
Museum. The Oregon Trail Shop
moved downtown this summer
and is open Tuesday through
Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
THE WALK
Taylor’s talk will center on
the setting: Baker City.
“I’ll talk about how Baker
became Baker,” he said.
This includes a lesson about
the Blue Bucket Mine, the
fabled gold discovery that drew
Henry Griffin to Eastern Oregon
and the founding of Auburn. By
October 1862, Taylor recounts,
Auburn had a population of
5,000.
There’s nothing left of that
town, and Taylor can tell you
the reasons why Baker became
the county seat instead.
Gold was instrumental in
building Baker City, and Taylor
will talk about how that pre-
cious metal helped shape the
town.
Another part of Taylor’s talk
will be “What’s in a name?” For
instance, the “Geiser” behind
both the Geiser Grand Hotel
and Geiser Pollman Park. Also,
why is Alfred Block’s name on a
building along Main Street?
Taylor will cover “some of
the more prominent buildings
we see downtown,” he said.
He’ll also talk about the
development of Baker City
and how it transitioned from
wooden structures to the vol-
canic tuff we see today. (Hint:
Fire and floods were involved.)