The Oregon Trail
Morrow County's
igfinvay to
The year is 1852. Westbound
emigrant John Kern in his
150th day out of Independence,
Mo., has traveled nearly
1,750 miles on the Oregon
Trail. He has just passed over
the desolate sage flats of
present-day Morrow County,
stopping only to camp and
stock up on water at Well
Spring, then later doing the
same at Willow Creek near
Cecil
An estimated 250,000 pione
ers crossed through Morrow
County on their way to the
fertile Willamette Valley bet
ween 1841 and the end of the
19th century. Although going
was relatively easy during the
two-day trek through the
northern Morrow County flat
lands, many pioneers like
Kern were not impressed
with the local landscape.
"If this is Oregon, it is not
the place I started for," wrote
Kern in his diary after passing
through Morrow County. ". .
Have endured too many hard
ships and privations. . .to ever
be put off into such an ocean of
gloom, eternal horrors and
desolations such as this. The
creator must have intended an
abundance of wickedness in
the world. . .and this country
as a refuge to those who could
not bear the countenance of
honest men."
Not exactly material for a
Chamber of Commerce bro
chure were Kern's comments.
But early-day emigrants to
Oregon Territory had no way
of visualizing the advent of
pivot irrigation systems that
would convert the wastelands
of Morrow County he passed
through into lush potato and
alfalfa fields.
Hie fact that few pioneers
J K3NE
I LEXINGTON
I ' T HEPPNER
stopped to setle in northern
Morrow County accounts for
one of the major reasons why
the county contains what is
believed to be one of the best
preserved sections of the
entire Oregon Trail.
Wagon ruts remain visible
in many places across the
county across the southern
end of the Navy Bombing
Range, parallel to the county's
Emigrant Road, and along the
canyons leading west of Cecil
into Gilliam County.
Now, nearly 100 years after
railroads made the Oregon
Trail a part of history, the U.S.
Congress is seriously inter
ested in preserving what is left
of the trail.
The Oregon Trail Act,
passed by the House in April
and approved by the Senate in
late July, was established to
include the trail remnants in
the National Register of
Historic Places, authenticate
the trail route, and include the
pioneer route in the National
Trails System.
It remains hazy as to
precisely . what will be done
with" the trail remnants in
Morrow County. Money ap
parently has been allocated to
purchase, trail segments and
easements to them, to build
educational historic displays,"
and to mark the trail route.
Under the enabling legislation
passed earlier this year, the
Department of the Interior
has three years to prepare a
plan for development and
management of the trail.
Most likely to receive some
sort of development are 987
miles of "high potential route
segments" areas containing
trail remnants worthy' of
preservation. In Morrow Cou
The Oregon Trail
in Morrow
County
Morrow County
Heading west from Cecil, into Fourmile Canyon near the
Gilliam County line, this section of the Oregon Trail is one of
several still visible in the area. Although going was relatively
easy for the pioneers passing through Morrow County, the
desolation dampened the spirits of some. "If this is Oregon, it
is not the place I started for," wrote one such emigrant,
describing the area as "an ocean of gloom." Pioneers could
have forseen that one day the Morrow County desert would
bloom with irrigated croplands.
the past
nty, a 12-mile "high potential
route segment" has been
designed by the Department
of the Interior. It is located on
the Boardman bombing range-According
to the Depart
ment of the Interior proposal,
0' 12-mile stretch is among
the largest Unbroken seg
mants remaining in the
1,924-mile long trail "The
land is pockmarked in places
by bomb.craters," the propo
sal noted, "but otherwise
retains a natural appearance.
. .(The route here, as on the
adjoining Boeing land, has
high public use potential and
is worthy of nomination to the
National Register of Historic
Places."
The proposal noted that
"emigrants disliked this part
of the trail for its dust, heat
and scarcity of water. A
modern follower of the route
would find an interpretive foot
trail along the segment a very
educational experience. The
trail remnants and historic
sites have high potential for
interpretation, but develop
ment plans should consider
protection from vandalism at
the isolated sites."
Sen. Mark Hatfield was
co-sponsor of the Oregon Trail
enabling legislation in the
senate.
It is not yet known whether
the Navy will be forced to
delete the Oregon Trail seg
ment from its bomb sights.
But one thing is certain,
modern day tourists would
need as much courage as their
pioneer ancestors to walk
along the bombing range
segment if the emigrant route
remains open to target prac-
tice by Navy jets. -
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Story and photos f
by Rick Steelhammer
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Twisted scrap of metal banding, possibly from a
barrel from a covered wagon, lies along a sun-baked stretch
of the Oregon Trail near the Boardman Bombing Range. -
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
The Gazette-Times, Heppner,
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Oregon, Thursday, September 14,
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' Wells Spring, watering hole for thousands of
emigrants who traveled along the Orgon Trail, is easily
reached on un paved Emigrant RoacLSign" marking '
the spot, above left, has been used fortarget practice i
i by vandals. Springs are now drydue to a lowering of ' '
J' the water table by nearby irrigation pumps. A short v
distance from Wells Spring is a
monument ''(above) commemorating Col. Cornelius
Gilliam, who was killed near the site in 1848 during an
Indian attack. V ' ? .' '
1978 NINE
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pioneer graveyard and
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