Baker City, Oregon & Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
June 16, 2007.
We are staying at Mountain View Travel Park in Baker City. $24.79
FHU, shade and a nice enough RV-Park. It must be a former KOA since
they charge extra for everything, $2 extra for wifi, $2 extra for
larger sites, you get the picture.
Oregon welcome sign on I-84
We are traveling from Idaho into Oregon on I-84. As we crossed over
the Snake River we were in Oregon.
Desert scene on I-84 in eastern Oregon
The desert continued into Oregon as you can see.
Farewell Bend State Park in Oregon
This is Farewell Bend State Park in Oregon. It was given the name
because it is where emigrants on the Oregon Trail left the Snake River
that they had been following for over 300-miles. Emigrants had grown
fond of the Snake River. At Farewell Bend emigrants were compelled
to walk or die since certain death lay ahead in any descent of Hells
Canyon which lay ahead for those that contemplated following the Snake
River.
Their good-bye to the Snake was heart felt.
The Burnt River canyon was equally unforgiving. Purposeful burning
of the hillsides by Indians helped ensure fine grass for livestock,
but the path twisted around the river, and heavy brush slowed progress.
For four or five days, emigrants wandered back and forth across the
riverbed, braved the slopes, and struggled with overturned wagons.
Their reward? Virtue Flat --- and more sagebrush!
Lime, Oregon
As we passed through a small town called Lime we spotted limestone
on this hill.
Desert scene on I-84 in eastern Oregon
Note that we are still in a desert. That is a train tunnel on the
left side of the interstate.
Cement plant in Lime, Oregon
On the other side of that large hill was this cement plant obviously
taking advantage of the limestone in this area.
Red Neck Cafe sign I-84 exit 327 in eastern Oregon
Joyce was quick with the camera when she snapped this advertisement
on I-84 as we were moving the motorhome to Baker City, Oregon.
National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center Baker City, Oregon
One of the big tourist attractions in Baker City is the National
Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. This is a world class Interpretive
Center really explaining the whole phenomena of the great movement
of people from the eastern United States to western Oregon.
Needless to say Joyce and I spent several hours absorbing all the
information presented.
Mike at National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
I wonder which one of us looks best, me or the buffalo? VBG
Oregon Trail Ruts Baker City, Oregon
Beginning in 1843, thousands of Oregon Trail emigrants trekked through
this region toward new lives in the West. This epic journey indelibly
etched the landscape with wagon ruts such as these.
Of the 2170 miles of the Oregon Trail, approximately 300 miles of
ruts remain. Swales created by thousands of wagon wheels and the trampling
of draft animals are deep in some areas, shallow in other places.
Much of the trail has disappeared due to natural erosion, and development
of farms, highways, cities and towns. In some places, the Oregon Trail,
or Emigrant Road as it was generally called in the 1800's, was later
used by automobiles.
Oregon Trail Ruts Baker City, Oregon
As you might suspect, the Oregon Trail route followed the easiest
grades whenever possible. These ruts came from the southeast across
Virtue Flat as it headed northwest towards Baker Valley and the divide
in the low hills to the north. In any place where level open ground
permitted wagons spread out rather than follow single file to give
livestock more access to grazing and to minimize the dust. In places
like this they would follow one another thus creating these ruts.
Oregon Trail Ruts Baker City, Oregon
Emigrants generally traveled through this area sometime between mid-August
and late-September. At the time of the migration, this site was NOT
known as "Flagstaff Hill', but was referred to as a high ridge
or divide in pioneer diaries that read something like this: "...after
leaving camp. We crossed the divide and camped at the lone pine tree..."
James W. Nesmith, 25 September 1843
To begin with emigrants on the Oregon Trail came west searching for
good farmland. Later, gold was one of the greatest lures for people
to move west.
Baker Valley Baker City, Oregon
In the 1840s (early years of the migration), those seeking land observed
the lush fields of the Baker Valley and Powder River Valley as they
traveled the Oregon Trail to western Oregon. With no settlements,
weary emigrants had to pass up the agricultural potential for the
security of supplies and markets in the Willamette Valley.
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848 escalated
the great migration across the continent, and opened up the need for
supplies and food for the rapidly growing population of miners. Oregon's
economy flourished; shipping produce, cattle and timber south. As
the gold fields of California played out, prospectors looked for fortune
in other regions. Strikes in Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, British
Columbia and Oregon generated new trail routes, new settlement and
new trade patterns as miners followed the rumors of gold.
Some miners considered the story of the "Lost Blue Bucket Mine".
In 1845, a wagon train looking for a short cut through central Oregon
became lost and wandered through the hills and desert country. At
one campsite, some shiny yellow pebbles were found, and allegedly,
most of the rocks were left behind in a blue bucket. The story and
a few samples however were saved, and after news of the find at Sutter's
Mill it was recognized that the lost pioneers had found gold - but
they could not remember the location of their find.
In 1861, prospectors searching the mountains of eastern Oregon for
the Lost Blue Bucket location found gold in a gulch about seven miles
south west of present day Baker City. The news started a stampede,
with an estimated 15,000-30,000 gold seekers coming into the Blue
Mountains in the next year and over 1,700 mining claims filed. It
became the county seat of newly formed Baker County, and for a short
while was the largest town in Oregon - two years later it was headed
for oblivion with less than 150 residents.
Baker Valley Baker City, Oregon
Emigrants on their way to the Willamette Valley in the early 1860s
shared the trail with eager gold miners. Some decided to cut off the
trail and stay in Baker County, starting farms and businesses to supply
the bustling mining trade. As Auburn became overcrowded , prospectors
followed other leads, finding gold at Canyon City, Prairie City, Sumpter,
and Granite, south at Mormon Basin and Rye Valley, and east to the
Boise Basin.
As early methods of placer mining gave way to lode mining, the need
for supplies - especially heavy equipment - led to changes in the
economic life of communities supporting the mining business. Freighters
developed routes to haul goods from Columbia River ports to the mountains
around Baker Valley. A railroad route was developed, and completed
in 1884. A stamp mill built on the Powder River in 1864 became the
starting point for the town of Baker City, which soon became the county
seat, and a hub for suppliers of hardware and heavy equipment. Lumbermen
started mills to supply timbers. Ranching and farming expanded to
meet the growing market for produce, beef and draft animals. Hotels
and banks accommodated the investors, engineers and businessmen as
mining changed from the work of lone prospectors into corporate ventures.
Churches and schools developed for families; saloons and more carnal
entertainment establishments were constructed for the single miners.
Civic and fraternal organizations, libraries, and musical bands appeared
in even the most rudimentary and temporary mining camps.
Settlement patterns chased gold finds throughout the West, encroaching
on traditional Indian lands. Treaties and reservations reduced Indian
territory. The lust for gold created a mobile society, able to quickly
relocate, establish governments and communities, and then leave when
the gold became scarce and new rumors lured restless miners away.
View from Flagstaff Hill east of Baker City, Oregon
Early Oregon Trail emigrants crested this hill (Flagstaff Hill) east
of Baker City, and with the Blue Mountains looming to the west, saw
a solitary tree in the valley below. Called I'arbre seul (the lone
tree) by French-Canadian fur trappers, this large tree, possibly ponderosa
pine or Douglas-fir, towered majestically above the floor of Baker
Valley about 3-miles distance from here.
For many years -- perhaps centuries -- the Lone Tree served as a
landmark for Indians, trappers, missionaries, and Oregon Trail emigrants,
until felled in 1843 by what explorer John Fremont called, "some
inconsiderate emigrant ax."
Others remembered that solitary ponderosa pine flourishing on the
banks of the Powder River, as it welcomed emigrants to the Baker Valley.
It stood entirely alone "in the midst of an immense plain."
Medorem Crowford, writing in 1842, believed it to be "respected
by every traveler through this almost Treeless Country." But
that was not the case.
Story of I'arbre seul (the lone tree) named by French-Canadian fur
trappers for the lone tree in the Baker Valley
In 1843, Peter Burnett looked west toward the pine as he passed Flagstaff
Hill. One moment he saw the tree; the next it was gone. "That
brave old pine ... has fallen at last by the vandals --- hands of
man. Some of our inconsiderate people had cut it down for fuel, but
it was too green to burn ... Had I been there in time I would have
begged those woodsmen to spare that tree."
Baker Valley viewed from Flagstaff Hill
Emigrants camping in this valley often met traders from Willamette
who walked through offering food and good news. They told of the bountiful
harvests, the fertile soil, and the gentle winters in Oregon. The
promised land seemed so close, but several enemies still barred the
way; weather, mountains, rivers, and lack of supplies.
Hailstorms and iced-over water buckets reminded the travelers that
winters came early in the mountains. Axing their way through thick
timber and hauling wagons up seemingly vertical inclines drained their
small stores of energy and patience and supplies.
Beyond the Blues, travelers heading for Willamette had to decide
between two unappealing routes: the Columbia River or the Barlow Road.
Whether they chose the river or the road, they risked losing everything.
Fortunately, moments of joy and relief flickered brightly as they
neared their goal: friendly Indians still provided fresh food and
the land itself more than fulfilled their hopes.
Baker Valley viewed from Flagstaff Hill
The Baker Valley spread out before you changed rapidly in the years
after the Oregon Trail. Placer and lode mining, and the spread of
farming and stock raising changed the face of Baker Valley forever.
A mixed population including Chinese laborers, Basque shepherds, and
recent European immigrants scrambled for the land. They washed gold
and irrigated their fields. They erected handsome buildings, planted
trees, and called the place home. By 1890 Baker City had 4,500 residents.
The valley drew trade, logging and lumbering, and tourists. The arrival
of the railroad in 1882 created more prosperity by linking northeastern
Oregon to the nation. At the same time, grazing, new plant species,
and mining upset the region's ecological balance. Fluctuating world
markets brought agricultural depressions, growth in booming Baker
Valley gradually slowed, and a more modest stability took hold.
Abandoned gold mine on Flagstaff Hill near Baker City, Oregon
When Henry Griffin, a prospector from California, discovered gold
eight miles southwest of present-day Baker City in 1861, the emigration
pattern changed radically.
Eastern Oregon quickly became a destination for gold-seekers and
settlers--many arrived from the Willamette Valley reversing their
initial journey along the Oregon Trail to settle in this area.
Mining camps sprang up with the prospect of gold and many boomed
into towns. By 1862 the nearby town of Auburn, which no longer exists,
had a population over 5,000 and was among Oregon's largest cities.
Local settlers established farms and stores, providing hay and produce
to miners, and for much of the 1860s large wagon trains loaded with
freight were a common site along this segment of the Oregon Trail.
Placer deposits of gold sparked Oregon's gold rush boom, but lode
mining became an industry. Placer miners worked from sunrise to sundown.
They panned, cradled, rocked and ground-sluiced the paydirt. They
invested in crazy contraptions called " gold machines,"
and hoarded their precious gold in leather pouches and fruit jars.
They also helped found towns like Auburn, Baker City, Eldorado, Sumpter,
and Granite.
The opening of rich lodes like the Virtue Mine in the 1870s poured
more money into the Baker Valley. Load mining required months of labor
with hammers, drills, and dynamite. Dust clogged the men's lungs,
stamp mills deafened them, and the cyanide plants exposed them to
all kinds of hazards. But mining was work and work meant meals, a
place to bunk, and maybe even a paycheck.
Abandoned gold mine on Flagstaff Hill near Baker City, Oregon
Eastern Oregon today is still marked with remnants of mines large
and small, of tailing piles, abandoned shafts and placers, rock walls
built by Chinese laborers, empty ditches which brought water to placer
operations, abandoned buildings and cabins where gold once was the
center of life and activity. Gold production since World War II has
been considerably less than the boom years of the late 19th and early
20th century when Baker County was a leading producer of gold in Oregon.
As with many regions in the West, the roots of present day communities
reach back to the quest for gold.
Abandoned gold mine on Flagstaff Hill near Baker City, Oregon
This picture captures several of those old mines.
Baker Valley hay field
The Baker Valley produces thousands of acres of hay. This alfalfa
field has been mowed and raked into rows of hay that is drying. Within
a few days a bailing machine will move down the rows creating giant
bales of alfalfa.
At the turn of the century, Baker City was known as the "Queen
city" of the Pacific Northwest, the cultural center between Salt
Lake City and Portland, resplendent with several exquisite hotels
and restaurants, ballrooms for dancing, an opera house and neighborhoods
of elaborate homes.
Today, Baker City boasts one of the largest commercial national Register
Historic Districts in the state of Oregon with over 110 buildings
in the district.
Geiser Grand Hotel Baker City, Oregon
This is the Geiser Grand Hotel constructed here in Baker City in
1889. Originally the Warshauer House, the Geiser Grand Hotel was built
by local merchants Harry and Jake Warshauer for the then magnificent
sum of $65,000. The hotel was a gathering place for business travelers
from across the nation - and even Europe - many of whom had interests
in area gold mines. Local mine owner Al Geiser purchased the hotel
and extensively remodeled it at the turn of the century. The hotel
was closed for almost thirty years before being restored and reopened
again in 1997.
Geiser Grand Hotel Baker City, Oregon
Gold display in U.S. Bank of Baker City, Oregon
One of the stops on our walking tour of historic homes and businesses
in Baker City was the U.S. Bank where they have a gold display. Among
trays of gold flakes and gravel-sized nuggets on display is a heart-stopping
specimen that was pulled from a muddy stream in 1913.
The miner's name was George Armstrong, and he spotted the hunk of
gold as he followed his son out of a placer mine near Susanville in
Grant County.
The nugget weighed 80.4 ounces --that's 6 and 3/4 pounds --- and
was worth more than $1,400 at the 1913 gold price of $17.50 an ounce.
That's more than $25,000 in today's dollars.
The nugget sits front and center in the bank's gold display that
features metals mined from the Baker Mining District.
Luther B. Ison home Baker City, Oregon
When Luther B. Ison built this home in 1887 he directed that only
the finest materials be used. The bricks were freighted from Portland,
the fireplaces came from Holland and Alaskan white cedar was used
for woodwork. Ison, who was a district judge at the time, died in
1889, just two years after the home was completed, but his widow lived
there for the next 50 years. The house has been renovated for use
as a bank.
Bowen Home Baker City, Oregon
This is the Bowen Home built in 1895 by the publisher and editor
of Baker City's "Bedrock Democrat" newspaper. The house
was a traditional all-white Victorian with a park-like yard that was
much larger than it is now. The Bowens were pioneers in Baker County
arriving in 1862 with their parents.
St. Francis Cathedral Baker City, Oregon
St. Francis Cathedral was constructed in 1908 of volcanic tuff stone
quarried about 12-miles east of Baker City. Many other prominent buildings
erected in the city during the 1900s were constructed of this same
volcanic tuff stone. The Catholic Diocese of Baker, established by
the Pope in 1903, included all of Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains.
Until next time remember how good life is.
Mike & Joyce Hendrix
