Oregon Trail 1844 DAR/SAR Marker — Olympia, WA, USA - Daughters of the American Revolution on Waymarking.com

This unobtrusive monument marks an important early emigrant road to the Oregon Territory - right next the the modern-day US 101 freeway. At the time it was placed, there were no federal highways of any kind, and traffic along this route would be on foot, some astride a horse, and others in “infernal machines” - Model T Fords!

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, a married couple who served as Christian missionaries to Indian tribes, were the very first people to take what would become the Oregon Trail. They arrived in present-day WA, then part of the Oregon Territory, in 1844, and established a mission to evangelize to the local Indian tribes. It didn’t end well - they and 11 other missionaries were murdered at their Indian Mission near Walla Walla WA in 1847. See more about the Whitmans here: (visit link)

But the Whitmans had shown the way, and eventually between 300,000 and 500,000 people left their homes to bet on themselves and a dream of land in Oregon Territory. 90% of them survived the trek, which was mostly made on foot so as not to over-tax the oxen who pulled the wagon. Source: US Bureau of Land Management: (visit link)

More generally on the Oregon Trail can be found here: (visit link)

DAR Chapter: Washington State DAR and Washington State SAR Date Placed: 01/01/1916 Inscription: [DAR medallion]OREGON TRAIL [SAR MEDALLION] 1844 Marked by Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution In the State of Washington 1916

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/20/2023 Benchmark Blasterz visited it