traveling
from Boise Idaho to somewhere in Washington State, we happened to
go through a small town in Oregon called Baker City. Since I am (and
have been since the onset of our marriage) the unofficial tour
guide I started looking at Baker City as a place we might want to
stop. (Our family motto is: I keep us from getting bored and Bob
keeps us from getting killed.) So far this has worked out very
well. We decided that we would spend a couple of days in Baker
City. It was our hope to find North America, both past and
present. The high school version of American History left little
interest in the events that made this nation what it is today.
But the tales of heroism, betrayal, and sacrifice are everywhere
throughout this land. From the Acadians of Nova Scotia
to the defenders of the
Alamo, the men and women of this land carved out a history
which comes to life for us, when we are standing where it
happened and listening to people who have lived there for years
tell of events as they learned of them from their relatives and
ancestors. Some tales like the adventures of Big 
Nose George Peratt, were
short and related only to one town, others were gigantic,
encompassing thousands of people over large portions of land. So
it was, as we began to explore the history of the Oregon Trail. 150
years ago, pioneers came for two thousand miles over the Oregon
and California Trails to find new lives in the West. Mothers,
fathers, and children walked with their wagons across endless
prairies, scorched deserts, craggy summits, and swollen rivers.
Days were hot and nights were bitter cold. Often, they fought
starvation, and for five months straight they marched as far as
twenty miles a day. Despite the distance and perils, 
over 300,000
departed from Missouri between 1810 and 1860, approximately
60,000 of those pioneers came to Oregon, mainly to find farmland.
They often were America's newest residents. Emigrants from
Germany, France, Scotland, Ireland, Norway. Even the Basque
country. People,
who often spoke no English, and had no experience in living on
the range, gathered in Missouri to join wagon trains headed up by
experienced wagon masters and armed with guide books written by
those who had passed before, they put their faith and belief that
the passage could be done and that the life waiting at the end
was well worth the price. Many would never make it. All along the
Oregon trail, there were those who would drop out and make a life
wherever they were. Towns and city sprung up all along the trail.
One of these was Baker City Or., a town that grew up after gold
was found nearby
. We visited the historic Geiser Hotel,
a landmark building with its own legacy. Newly refurbished, we
spent the afternoon with its new owners, Dwight and Barbara
Sidway, but that is another story. We also stopped
by the US National Bank, to see the largest gold nugget found in
the Northwest.
This nugget, weighing 80.4 ounces or 6
3/4 lbs., was found on June 19, 1913 by George Armstrong in Grant
County Or. The story is that Armstrong, following his son as they
left the mine, noticed that the nugget was protruding from his
son's footstep where it had sunk in the mud. He picked it up and
took it to the bank for safekeeping, accepting several hundred
dollars in advance. When that was spent, he sold it to the bank.
Gold was selling at $17 an ounce at that time. 
HOME PAGE
Next >>>>>