Exploring the End of the Oregon Trail

They all had left behind kin and neighbors; homes, farms and civilization and crossed the endless plains. Some had braved the rapids of the mighty Columbia River; others had chosen the Barlow Road and the nearly vertical descent of Laurel Hill. Still others had gone far south, crossed the burning wasteland of the Black Rock Desert only to face the seemingly endless ridges near the end of the Applegate Trail. Many had left loved ones buried in shallow graves along with cherished possessions that proved too weighty for tired, overworked oxen. Their goal was Oregon, a mystical place where a man and woman could claim 640 acres of land—land without punishing debt and away from the diseases and disappointments of home.

James Naismith, an 1843 immigrant to Oregon, was quoted as follows: “Well it may be asked why did such men peril everything, burning their ships behind them, exposing their helpless families to the possibilities of massacre and starvation, braving death, and for what purpose? I am not quite certain that any rational answer will ever be given to that question.”

But come they did. Even the discovery of gold in California didn’t dissuade Oregon-bound settlers. Where the trails to the two destinations parted, it was claimed that a pile of rocks painted gold marked the California trail, while a sign with the word “Oregon” on it pointed the direction that anyone with enough education to read and write ought to take.

Trail’s End
Most of us have heard of the travails of the journey, but we aren’t as familiar with what happened when they arrived. I had been curious for some time about this place called “The End of the Trail” and was happy for the opportunity to explore Oregon City, which is about 13 miles south of Portland. When the early immigrants arrived, Oregon Country took in most of the Northwest and was under a joint occupancy agreement between England and the United States. Each was wary of the other’s intentions. Only 30 years before in the War of 1812, English troops had burned Washington, D.C., and had suffered a humiliating defeat in Florida when Andrew Jackson and his forces destroyed an invading British army. The peace had resolved little. The Hudson’s Bay Company, representing England’s interests on the frontier, had established a fort at the present location of Vancouver, Washington, in part to assert English control over the Columbia basin. The man in charge was Dr. John McLoughlin.

Dr. McLoughlin was a giant of a man in every way. In a time when the average person was only five feet, seven inches in height, McLoughlin towered at six feet, four inches. He was known as the white eagle, and pictures portray him as a powerfully imposing man with a huge mane of white hair. He had been born in Canada and was English in citizenship. His job was chief factor, or head, of the far-flung operations of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the West. One of McLoughlin’s assignments from the nervous Hudson’s Bay Company was to keep American settlers out of the territory.

Instead, McLoughlin be-friended the newcomers when they arrived at the fort, desperate and in need of basic sustenance. He offered them assistance and even seed for their farms. By 1842, the trickle of settlers had become a torrent. McLoughlin sought to counter their growing influence by creating a town for English settlers on the Willamette River at the falls that limited navigation, where he had earlier established a flour and lumber mill. He called it Oregon City. But it was too late. American settlers poured into the town and the surrounding country. In 1843, settlers at Champoeg, a few miles south of Oregon City, voted to establish a provisional government under the United States and the die was cast. In 1846, the boundary dispute was settled with the adoption of the 49th parallel as the border. Oregon was part of the United States. In 1848, Congress admitted Oregon as a state.

McLoughlin retired in 1846 and moved to Oregon City, building a house that still stands. Before he died, he became a citizen of the United States. His presence still fills Fort Vancouver, the fort that Hudson’s Bay Company built to protect English interests against the Americans, and his beautiful home in Oregon City, where he ultimately sided with the Americans. Fittingly, he has become known as the Father of Oregon.

Covered Wagons
The End of the Trail is celebrated today on the site of Abernethy Green in Oregon City with three enormous covered wagons, linked together to form a combination museum and theater. George Abernethy let emigrants coming off the Barlow Road winter over here on his land, before they set off to find their own land. Your visit to Oregon City should begin here. Your exploration of the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center begins in a store offering the kinds of supplies emigrants needed to cross the continent. From there, the journey itself is showcased in a multimedia display that highlights four travelers, each of whom took different routes to Oregon. The Interpretive Center also offers lectures and demonstrations on topics pertaining to the emigration, a hands-on children’s museum, and other exhibits. Your entrance ticket gives you discounts for other Oregon City attractions.

Modern Oregon City is built on a stairstep series of bluffs arising from the Willamette River. Getting around this town on many levels is not always easy. I usually have a good sense of direction, but Oregon City mystified me at first. For that reason, I recommend taking the Oregon City Trolley Red Line on its 45-minute journey that showcases most places of interest. You can catch the trolley at the End of the Trail Interpretive Center as well as other signed locations around town. This will give you a feel for how to get between the various levels and find the places you’d like to see.

First Settlement
The earliest settlement was on the lowest level, where McLoughlin and other early day settlers built their homes. Because of the potential for flooding and the desire to use the land for commercial purposes, the old pioneer settlement is gone but some of the homes, including McLough-lin’s, were moved up onto the bluff in what is today the McLoughlin Conservation District. In 1913, the city built a municipal elevator to enable people to get from that commercial first level to their homes on the second. It was hydraulically powered. Unfor-tunately, everyone living on the bluffs above lost water pressure when the elevator went up or down. After enduring the complaints for some time, the city converted it to electricity. A replacement for the original elevator was built in 1954 and is in use today.

After its move, John McLoughlin’s home now sits on the edge of the bluff overlooking the river. How it got there is a story in and of itself. In 1909, the house was moved by putting rollers under it, taking down the chimneys, and then, using a winch powered by a single horse, inching it up a narrow road to its present location. Each time the horse walked the circle, the house moved forward eight inches. Because the house was wider than the road, they had to put sandbags on one side to keep it from sliding off the edge and back down the bluff. Amazingly, they completed the job without damage to the house.

Tours of the McLoughlin house begin at the Dr. Forbes Barklay house next door. Barklay was a physician for the Hudson’s Bay Company and a contemporary of McLoughlin. Tracy Hill, the house manager, has a wealth of knowledge about the two houses and the McLoughlins that makes this tour well worthwhile.

West’s Only City
The Museum of the Oregon Territory is also worth a visit. Perhaps the most interesting, and in many ways amusing, exhibit is the original official plat of the City of San Francisco. Because Oregon City was the only incorporated city on the West Coast at that time, everyone, even the founders of San Francisco, had to have their land plats approved in Oregon City. As you view the plat, the faint sound you hear in the background is the grinding of teeth of the fabled city by the bay at their inability to get their hands on this choice exhibit.

The Ermatinger House and the neighboring Stevens-Crawford Museum also have valuable exhibits. The collection of clothes, particularly women’s dresses, at the Ermatinger House was exceptional and particularly enhanced by Rolla and Marge Harding’s encyclopedic knowledge of the dresses. They are the current curators. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is just for the ladies. This is one that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. Unfortunately, the Ermatinger House is not open regularly, so check with the Chamber of Commerce to see if you can get in. The Stevens-Crawford Museum, although not as old as the others, is notable for its original furnishings that were donated by the family. It also has clothes from the 1800s and early 1900s on display. Unfortunately, those clothes are deteriorating and may not be on display in the future. The Stevens-Crawford Museum is next door to the Ermatinger House.

In truth, the end of the trail for those hardy pioneers was the piece of Oregon soil they were able to call their own. Oregon City became known as the end of the trail in part because of the benevolence of Dr. John McLoughlin and George Abernethy and in part because the emigrants received title for their land in Oregon City. I believe a drive out into the countryside, past farms and ranches and small towns is the best way to end your search for the end of the Oregon Trail. That land was their true destination. Seeing those fertile lands and the uses made of them even today completed the story for me.

Gerald C. Hammon is a writer who lives in Silver City, New Mexico.