Oregon Trail stone marker, central Oregon
NW Chapter OCTA members talk to visitors about the Oregon Trail at a festival held just off Barlow Road, Oregon
NW Chapter OCTA Symposium, La Grande, Oregon
Oregon Trail Historic Route sign, Barlow Road, Oregon
NW Chapter OTCA members talk to visitors in Oregon City, Oregon
Trail ruts near junction of Westminster Lane and Hwy 30, Oregon (Mark Miller photo)
NW Chapter members hike near Emigrant Spring, Blue Mountains, Oregon
Wagon ruts on Conner property near Deadman Pass, Oregon
NW Chapter members hike on the Barlow Road, Oregon
Swale in Blue Mountain Crossing, Oregon
Swale near Echo, Oregon
Trail signs near Vale, Oregon
Applegate trail marking near Lower Klamath Lake, California
Swale at Echo Meadows, Oregon
2013 Pre-convention Tour west of Pendleton, Oregon
Confirming Oregon Trail in the Blue Mountains, Oregon
Our interest is in study, research, protection, preservation, and enjoyment of the historic trails in Oregon and Washington. We have the privilege of living in the territory where overland emigrants settled and started new lives.
Overview
Many of our members are descendants or know descendants of trail pioneers although many don’t have these connections. We strive to preserve our heritage. Some of the more notable NW sites along the trails are the Columbia River, Fort Vancouver, ruts near Echo, Barlow Road, Blue Mountains, Whitman Mission, the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City, and the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City. There is more to see on the Applegate Trail (the Southern Route to Oregon). Our chapter is deeply involved with researching, mapping, and marking the historic trails. We have semi-annual tours which are open to the public of sections of the trails. Please join us – it’s fun!
Chapter Mission
The mission of the Northwest chapter of OCTA is to support and initiate local efforts using private and governmental partners and to join with adjacent chapters in support of the national association efforts in identifying, preserving, protecting and educating the public about the Oregon Trail and California Overland Trail legacy.
On October 5, 2018, then Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued a state-wide proclamation honoring the 175th Anniversary of the Oregon Trail and marking the arrival of the Great Migration in October 1843. The year 2018 was also the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act (1968) and the 40th Anniversary of the Oregon National Historic Trail (1978). Now more than ever the Oregon Trail in Oregon needs protection and its legacy shared with this and future generations.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide Across Oregon Now Available from the National Park Service
This is the latest in the series of Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guides printed over the years. If any OCTA NW Chapter member would like to have a copy (or more) please email your request, including number of copies desired, shipping address, and phone number, to ntir_information@nps.gov, or you can call and leave Lee Kreutzer a message at 801-741-1012 ext 118.
Upcoming NW Chapter Activities
July 21 to 25, 2024 — OCTA and the Northwest Chapter are hosting the annual convention, entitled “Shifting Legacy,” from Sunday, July 21 through Thursday, July 25 in Pendleton, Oregon. The Wildhorse Resort & Casino at 46510 Wildhorse Boulevard in Pendleton will serve as the Convention headquarters. Registration for the convention is now available online as is registration for lodging at the resort.
September 28, 2024 — NW Chapter OCTA Fall Meeting at Borst Park in Centralia, WA. More information will be coming out as it is available.
September 29, 2024 – Cowlitz River Trip in WA
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Chuck Hornbuckle researched the route of the Cowlitz Trail between Fort Vancouver and Tumwater, WA. He published an auto tour guide and conducted tours over the route. On September 29 we will reprise Chuck’s tour and see how things have changed in the intervening twenty-plus years. We will also see some new finds. The route has been recommended for addition to the Oregon National Historic Trail.
The tour will be led by Dennis Larsen, Karen Johnson, and Dave Welch. Dennis is a retired history teacher and has been writing on Northwest pioneers since retiring. He is particularly known for his research and writings on Ezra Meeker. He is a longtime member of OCTA and has written numerous articles for its publications.
Karen Johnson worked with Chuck on his original work and assisted in organizing events celebrating the Cowlitz Trail. She has worked as a volunteer, assistant director, director, and curator at several museums in southwest Washington. She has participated in installing two Oregon Trail markers, making an eight-part documentary video about the Cowlitz Trail, and organizing two stagecoach runs between Olympia and Longview. Karen currently serves as the curator at the Schmidt House, owned by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation.
Dave Welch assisted Chuck in his early research. He is currently the chair of OCTA’s mapping committee. Along with Robin Baker, he updated Chuck’s maps to take advantage of technology that was not available to Chuck.
We will be starting at Kalama on Sunday, September 29 and we will end at Tenino the same day. High clearance or 4WD is not required. We plan to leave Kalama at 9:30 am.
The Fall Chapter Meeting will be held on Saturday, September 28. Travelers will need to make their own overnight reservations in Centralia, Chehalis or Kalama.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Dave Welch at welchdj@comcast.net.
Please join us! We are very fortunate to have Karen and Dennis guiding and interpreting our journey.
Upcoming NW Chapter Zoom meetings
June 8, 2024 – 10:00 am
Please consider making a presentation for NW Chapter Zoom meetings. Topics may include trail history, trail research, family history, local history, or preservation. Contact Dave Welch (welchdj@comcast.net) for additional information. Each meeting will also include a short business meeting and an update on tours and explorations.
OCTA videos available on YouTube
OCTA has posted a series of trails-related videos on YouTube.
Videos range from convention presentations on trail legacy to current trail preservation issues and on-site interviews with trail historians and interpreters.
Enjoy!
National Park Service contracted study is available online
A research study “First Year in Oregon, 1840-1869: A Narrative History” was completed in October 2021, and is available online. Historical Research Associates, Inc., of Portland, Oregon, conducted the study under contract with the National Trails office, National Park Service.
The study has an introduction, five chapters, a conclusion, illustrations, tables, and a bibliography.
From the introduction:
“After traversing the roughly 2,000–mile Oregon Trail, overlanders arrived at their destination: the
fertile and rain–soaked Willamette Valley. The first year in Oregon presented challenges for new
arrivals: Where would they sleep? What would they eat? Could they count on anyone to help them?
How might they work to earn food, clothing, or money? Not all who arrived were pleased with what
they found in the Willamette Valley: decades of boosterism about Oregon had raised the
expectations of some overlanders so high that the reality was a letdown.
This narrative history describes how overlanders survived their first year in Oregon and how the
first–year experience evolved from 1840 to 1869. While many arrived in Oregon City in the 1840s, or
in Portland in later years, they settled far and wide across the Willamette Valley, the Umpqua Valley,
the Red River Valley, Clatsop Plains, and other parts of Oregon and Washington. They often spent
their first winters in temporary accommodations with friends, relatives, or strangers willing to rent
rooms, and they only later found land where they could build houses and live more permanently.”
Enjoy reading this study!
Explore the Cowlitz Trail
Shortly after Ezra Meeker completed his ambitious 1906 expedition to preserve the Old Oregon Trail the Daughters of the American Revolution approved a proposal to honor the memory of Oregon Trail pioneers in Washington State. The Sons of the American Revolution give support to DAR’s program.
Explore the Naches Pass
The Naches Trail crosses the Cascade Range through Naches Pass, roughly from today’s Bonney Lake in the west to Yakima in the east. Later the name was applied to the route from Walla Walla to Steilacoom, as an extension of the Oregon Trail.
Memorial Day weekend, 2022, was the 30th anniversary of the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center’s grand opening, held in May 1992.
The Hells Canyon Journal of Halfway, Oregon, printed a series of articles in October, November, and December 2021 about the center’s history.
First article features Dave and Joyce Hunsaker, who were instrumental in the planning, construction, grand opening, and operation of the interpretive center.
Second article describes Dave Hunsaker’s involvement with the planning, design, research, and installation of the center’s interpretive exhibits.
Third article describes the grass roots efforts of local Baker City resident Chuck Rouse and others to obtain funding for the interpretive center. (Second page of this article.)
Fourth article focuses on Joyce Hunsaker and “Fanny,” a fictional interpretive character at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
Fifth article features Cammy Warner and the Trail Tenders, established in 1989 in partnership with the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
*Note: You may need to download these PDFs to rotate the view for readability.
Leadership
Below is a list of OCTA Northwest members holding elected and appointed positions with the chapter. Additional information is available in the link below.
- President: Susan Doyle (1/24-12/25)
- Vice President: Wendell Baskins (1/24-12/25)
- Secretary: Jenny Miller (1/24-12/25)
- Treasurer: Glenn Harrison (1/24-12/25)
- Director: Dave Welch (1/23-12/25)
- Director: Polly Jackson (1/24-2/26)
- Director: Sherrill Beck (2/24-12/24)