Oct 4

Written by: chris
10/4/2015 

Great American Road Trips: The Oregon Trail

Discover America, the national US tourism team, have created a website at www.DiscoverAmerica.com to tempt Canadians with wanderlust to venture south of the border. One of the most compelling sections on their website is simply titled: “Road Trips”… But beware!  For here you will find details of great American Road Trips that you always dreamt of…From the Blues Highway to Route 66. From The Great River Road to the Pacific Coast Highway. I selected one of the most iconic of all for my US adventure: The Oregon Trail.

The Oregon Trail is a 3,500 kilometer historic east–west wagon route and emigrant trail that connected the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean coast of Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of the future state of Kansas and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The western half of the trail spanned most of the future states of Idaho and Oregon.

The Oregon Trail was laid by fur trappers and traders from about 1811 to 1840 and was only passable on foot or by horseback. By 1836, when the first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho. Wagon trails were cleared further and further west, eventually reaching all the way to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Pacific Coast. What came to be called the Oregon Trail was complete. From various starting points in Missouri, Iowa or Nebraska Territory, the routes converged along the lower Platte River Valley near Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory and led to rich farmlands west of the Rocky Mountains.

From the early to mid-1830s (and particularly through the epoch years, 1846–1869) the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers and their families. Roughly 10% or 40,000 pioneers never made it: they died on the route, mostly from disease rather than Indian attacks. When the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 the trip west became much faster, cheaper, and safer. Today, modern roads still follow parts of the same course westward and pass through towns originally established to serve those using the Oregon Trail. And it’s those roads I travelled for my Oregon Trail road trip, starting in Independence Missouri and ending on the Pacific Ocean beaches in Oregon.

Kansas on The Oregon Trail

I flew into Kansas City Airport in Missouri, where I picked up my rental car. I began my Oregon Trail journey as so many of those nineteenth century Pioneers began theirs: by crossing the Missouri River near Independence, Missouri and climbing up the muddy banks of the great river on the Kansas side. It was the first of many ‘touch-points’ that brought their heroic journeys to life. Even though I was recording a radio show, I felt it necessary to record a segment standing in the Missouri River up to my knees in the muddy water!

From the Missouri River I drove to Topeka, the capital of Kansas and home to Old Prairie Town at the Ward-Meade Historic Site, which is a good place to get a feel for the mid nineteenth century settlements of the time. There is a little, but lovely, botanical garden on the site.

The next day I drove northwards to Alcove Springs. Near the town of Marysville, this well-known spring enticed pioneers to camp nearby. The unfortunate Donner Party camped here for several days in 1846 and it’s the point where the pioneers left the tallgrass prairie and entered the plains that beckoned westwards.

Nebraska on The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail enters Nebraska’s southern border with Kansas just west of the small town of Odell.  Pioneers continued northwest from here to Rock Creek Station and on to Fort Kearny where they connected with the Platte River.  The Great Platte River Road stretches across the state and became the pioneers’ highway west.  The Platte River, described as “a mile wide and an inch deep,” guided not only emigrants headed for Oregon, but pioneers going to the California goldfields and Mormons heading for Utah.

I headed to Lincoln, capital of Nebraska, where I had lunch in the funky downtown area. From there I went west along the Platte to Fort Kearny. This was a military post established in 1848 to protect emigrants heading west along the Oregon Trail - and it was also a stop for Pony Express riders.  It’s part of a Nebraska state historical park that includes an interpretive center, reconstructed buildings, and replica Oregon Trail wagons. I was even able to dress up as a pioneer to get into the spirit of the place! 

The emigrants didn’t have the GPS that I enjoyed, but they did have notable landscape features to guide them on their way. Jail Rock and Courthouse Rock are two famous landmarks familiar to the pioneers a short distance south of the North Platte River and easily visible from U.S. Highway 26.  Chimney Rock is perhaps the most famous of the trail’s landmarks – it’s a slender finger of rock that stood out in the afterglow of another splendid sunset on the trail.

The next day I spent some time at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Following the opening of Mitchell Pass in 1850, wagons moved single-file and cut deep ruts that remain visible to today’s visitors.  Scotts Bluff National Monument preserves the ruts and offers an excellent visitor center that interprets the trail and the pass used by the pioneers. I took the trail around the very top of the Bluff which provides a panoramic view of this part of the Oregon Trail.

South Dakota: Mount Rushmore

After travelling through Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska I headed off on a side trip north of the Trail to see one of the great cultural icons of America: Mount Rushmore.

For the generation that saw it born, Mount Rushmore was the symbol of American optimism after the challenge of the First World War. For many who grew up in the 1950s and ’60s, it became a symbol of the family road trip. And for American Indians of any generation, it’s a complicated symbol of broken treaties and loss.

Conceived in 1924 by Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, the great sculptures on Rushmore were to be a ‘Shrine of Democracy’ that would use the presidents’ images to trace the country’s history, from its birth (Washington) through to its early growth (Jefferson), preservation (Lincoln) and robust development in the 20th century (Teddy Roosevelt). Work on the monument began on October 4, 1927, and ended 14 years later, on October 31, 1941. When the granite dust cleared, Rushmore had been transformed with four enormous faces, six storeys high, peering into the Black Hills.

I had a perfect day of cloudless skies to enjoy this huge monument. There are trails to enjoy and compare viewing angles of the faces in the cliff. The visages change as the sun arcs round, creating shadows and depth to the gigantic granite carving. I was also fortunate enough to encounter a mountain goat mother and her kid.

 

Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park and The Grand Tetons 

Continuing my northern loop from the Trail, I drove across Wyoming to it’s border with Montana to enter another of America’s icons. Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is the world’s oldest and perhaps most famous national park, known worldwide for its geysers and geothermal pools. It’s the largest of America’s national parks outside Alaska, and crosses volcanic plateaus and heavily forested peaks, containing 2.2 million acres of steaming hot springs, crystalline lakes and thundering waterfalls.

Geothermal curiosities such as Old Faithful and the Norris Geyser Basin are just the beginning of Yellowstone’s attractions. The park offers incredible natural diversity and abundant wildlife, together with picture-postcard views. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, over 40 kms long and up to 1,200 feet deep, begins at the river’s thundering 308-foot Lower Falls. Wildlife is prolific - I saw bison grazing in the Lamar Valley, elk roaming around the streets of Mammoth Hot Springs and encountered a grizzly bear in the woods north of the Norris Canyon Road.   

Of course I also had to see Old Faithful erupt its powerful jet of boiling water and steam, as well as touring the hot springs terraces and viewing the belching boiling mud pools. These geothermal sights are very other-worldly and are reminiscent of Rotorua in New Zealand – but on a larger scale.  The park’s 150 geysers and the bubbling mud pools, hissing fumaroles and hot springs act as pressure valves, releasing the heat and steam that build up below the ground. Together, they make up the world’s largest geothermal system (75 per cent of the earth’s geysers are found here in Yellowstone), reminder of a tumultuous volcanic past.

The day’s leg of the journey had a magnificent encore in store: a second National Park that lies just south of its more famous neighbor. It’s Grand Teton National Park and one of the most memorable moments of the entire road trip was standing beside pretty Jenny Lake in the midst of this park as the evening clouds gathered around the soaring crests of the jagged peaks across the lake. The late evening sun filtered through the clouds to illuminate perennial snows and even small glaciers. And then a huge bull elk with spreading antlers stepped out of the forest and haughtily shepherded his harem of cow elks away from my spellbound gaze. It was a fitting end to an amazing day of natural wonders on this road trip.

Idaho on The Oregon Trail

There is no state along the Trail where the legacy of that great trek west is more apparent than in the mountainous state of Idaho.  The Oregon Trail enters Idaho on the high desert in the extreme southeastern corner of the state.  The trail then winds northwest along the Bear River, passes through present-day Pocatello, and bends west to meet the mighty Snake River that it parallels as the river carves a shallow curve across the southern portion of the state.  By the time they crossed into Idaho, the pioneers had been on the trail nearly two months, plenty of time to lose the excitement they experienced when starting out in Independence. 

I left Wyoming behind and rejoined the Oregon Trail as it entered Idaho near Montpellier – which is also the location of The National Oregon/California Trail Center. This is an exceptionally good interpretative centre that provided a real connection to the Trail Pioneers. Becky Smith, the Center’s Executive Director, and Dave Higly, the self-styled ‘Wagon Master’ provided an immersive experience that was equally memorable and poignant.

From Montpelier I was guided by Oregon Trail expert Tony Varilone to several other notable trail sights. The Big Hill, where the Pioneers had to slowly winch down their wagons to gain the valley floor below. Soda Springs, where travellers likened the thermal waters to sparkling beer. And then on to Lava Hot Springs with its soothing hot spring pools which must have seemed like heaven to the dusty wagon trains. Massacre Rocks and Register Rocks State Parks are the sites of a famous incident on the Oregon Trail and a pioneer campground where emigrants etched their names on large basalt boulders – another ‘touch point’ for me on the Trail.

Unlike the friendly Platte, the Snake River in Idaho cut deep canyons that prevented the pioneers from gaining easy access to water.  The rugged canyons also made it impossible for the wagon trains to cross the river until much of the loop had been traversed and the pioneers arrived at Glenns Ferry, west of present-day Twin Falls.  Here the banks eased into the water and wagon trains could utilize three islands to facilitate a crossing to the north bank. I spent time at The Three Island Crossing State Park where the Native Americans assisted the Oregon Trail travellers in crossing the treacherous Snake River. 

After spending the night in the delightful state capital of Boise, I was guided by Nancy Richardson to one last wonderful Trail site in Idaho: The Oregon Trail Reserve. It’s a 77-acre site in Southeast Boise.featuring the historic Kelton Ramp, a path forged by overland travellers heading down the rim to the Boise River. The Kelton ramp dates back to the early 1860’s and is a rock cut through the basalt rim between the second and third terraces above the Boise River. Here, more clearly than anywhere else I visited on the Trail, I could walk in the wagon wheel ruts of those Oregon Trail visionaries.

Oregon on The Oregon Trail

I had now driven more than 3000 kilometers ever westwards from Missouri through Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and Idaho. As I embarked on the final stage of this monumental journey, I entered the destination of those hundreds of thousands of nineteenth century pioneers: Oregon Territory and the beckoning shores of the Pacific Ocean.

The Oregon Trail enters its namesake state northwest of Boise, Idaho, where it threads its way through the northeastern corner of Oregon.  Here pioneers left the Snake River and headed northwest to meet the mighty Columbia River that led them west. The stretch from the Idaho border to the Columbia River crosses the Blue Mountains, a source of elation for many of the emigrants who had endured many weeks of desert heat and parched land.

First stop for me was the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretative Centre, just west of Baker City, Oregon. This Center brings to life the Oregon Trail experience through living history demonstrations, interpretive programs, exhibitions, and special events. Oregon Trail ruts carved by pioneer wagons can be seen from the landscape windows of this hilltop location, as well as scenic vistas of the Blue Mountains, the Wallowa Mountains, and Baker Valley. Another touch point: a Pioneer’s diary open at the point on the trail where I stood…

From here, thanks to the excellent advice of Alice Trindle of the Eastern Oregon Visitors Association, I headed for the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton, Oregon to understand the Oregon Trail from a very different perspective: that of the Native Peoples whose lands were being traversed by the Pioneers. Here you can immerse yourself in the history, culture and hospitality of the people who have lived on the land for more than 10,000 years. You experience the past, present and future of the local tribes through interactive exhibits, special events and a Living Culture Village celebrating the traditions of Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes.

After a delightful overnight stay at the historic landmark Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, I arrived at The Dalles. This was the point on the daunting Columbia River where our Pioneers had a heart-rending decision to make: load up their wagons on rafts to chance the destructive rapids of the Columbia Gorge…or brave the snows of 11,000 foot Mt Hood to the south. It was the last – and possibly the greatest – hurdle on the entire Trail before the weary folk reached the Promised Land.

I continued west through the Columbia River Gorge taking the Historic Columbia River Highway and I followed the old highway past scenic vistas and rushing waterfalls – the best way to experience the Columbia River Gorge. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area offers 292,500 acres of awesome scenery; completed in 1922 the road is the oldest national scenic highway in the U.S. I hiked up Horsetail Falls, to Upper Horsetail Falls (also known as Ponytail Falls), where you can walk behind the waterfall. 

Next was much-photographed Multnomah Falls. Plummeting 620 feet (189 m) from its origins on Larch Mountain, Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States.  Nearly two million visitors a year come to see this dramatic waterfall, making it Oregon’s number one public destination.

My road trip followed the Columbia River all the way to the Pacific Ocean, to Fort Clatsop and the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park at Astoria. Here Lewis and Clark over-wintered in 1805-06 before returning to prove that overland travel to the Pacific coast was possible…and desirable to Americans in the East. My guide here was Sally Freeman, Park Ranger, who brought this historical precedent of the Oregon Trail travelers to life, beneath the lush green coastal rainforest canopy. 

Journey's End

I started my Oregon Trail road trip up to my knees in the muddy Missouri River and now I reached journey’s end at Canon Beach on the Pacific Coast of Oregon. So it seemed appropriate to make my last recording for the radio show standing in the roaring surf of the Pacific Ocean. My road trip took me over 4,400 kms, 50 hours driving and through seven US states. And what a trip! Majestic scenery – big skies, rolling prairies and towering mountains – and the road, always the open road, stretching ahead of me full of promise. One of the delights of this trip was the unexpected. The sign that said “Lookout”, “Waterfall”, “Forest Hike’…or ‘Icecream Parlour’! And that diversity extended to my nightly stops. From quirky B & B’s to boutique hotels to grand mountain lodges.

All along the way, the Pioneers of the 1800’s travelled with me. I walked in the ruts made by their wagons; saw the rocks where they carved their names; stopped at the springs where they camped; and gazed ahead at the landmarks they used to navigate their way. What an amazing, brave, exciting journey they made…and I have been privileged to follow their footsteps all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

As with all good road trips, it suggested the next one. Canon Beach would be the perfect place to start the drive down the Pacific Coast to California. Maybe next time…But for now, this road trip ended with a magnificent sunset over the Pacific Ocean. 

Accommodations

I would recommend all the accommodations I experienced on this trip and my grateful thanks for the hospitality I received:

The Woodward Inns on Fillmore, 1272 SW Fillmore, Topeka, KS 66604  785-354-7111 www.thewoodward.com

Barn Anew Bed & Breakfast, 170549 County Road L, Mitchell, Nebraska 69357  308.632.8647  www.barnanew.com

Chamberlin Inn, 1032 12 Street, Cody, WY 82414  307-587-0202  www.chamberlininn.com/codywy/wyominghotels

Hampton Inn Jackson Hole, 350 S Hwy 89, WY 83002  307-733-0033 www.hamptoninnjacksonhole.com

Red Lion Hotel, Boise ID: 1800 Fairview Ave, Boise, ID 83702  208-344-7691  www.redlion.com/boise

Columbia Gorge Hotel, 4000 Westcliff Dr, Hood River, OR 97031 tel: 541-386-5566 www.columbiagorgehotel.com             

Embassy Suites Portland Airport, 7900 North East 82nd Street, Portland OR  97220  503-460-3000  www.embassysuites.hilton.com/AirportPDX ‎ 

Thanks

Many helpful hands facilitated my journey and I would like to thank Richard in Kansas, Angela in Nebraska, Wanda in South Dakota, Mickey in Wyoming, Diane and Nancy in Idaho, Corey in Oregon and Sana, Patrice and Marissa in the Canadian Office of Brand USA.

To find out more about road trips all over the US, seek out the www.DiscoverAmerica.com website, go the Explore tab and click on Road Trips for a whole range of suggested road trips, from the Oregon Trail to the Blues Highway to Route 66.  

Copyright ©2015 Chris Robinson