The First Oregon Trail - Garden City, UT, USA - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

This historical marker is located along Highway 89, on the west side of Bear Lake, at the north end of Garden City, near the Utah/Idaho border. It reads:

THE FIRST OREGON TRAIL

The first covered wagons came into the Rocky Mts. in 1830, they made their way as far west as Fort Washakie in Wyoming. Efforts were made to find passable wagon trails through the Mountains to the Pacific Coast, which goal was finally reached. At that time,
the entire northwest Mt. area was known as Oregon Country & western travel was either to the "Oregon" or the "California" regions. While early maps give the probable location of the first Oregon Trail north of here, well marked wagon ruts & stories of Indians & Settlers indicate that the first wagon migration to "Oregon" followed the Southwesterly shores of Bear Lake. Leaving this valley through a canyon to the Northwest, then to the upper reaches of the Bear River. Additional color is given this belief because this was the site of an important trappers' rendezvous as early as 1827, & well marked trails were followed for many years in & out of this valley.

Road of Trail Name: Oregon Trail State: Utah County: Rich Historical Significance: As early as 1811 and from the early to mid 1830s and particularly through the epoch years 1836–1869 the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and businessmen and their families. The Oregon Trail proceeded over 2,170 miles from Missouri to Oregon. The trail was still in use during the Civil War, but traffic declined after 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was completed. However, in its more than 25 years of regular use, the trail caried an estimated 300,000 emigrants to the vast west, a trip that took about five months to complete. Years in use: 1811-1890s - primarily 1836-1869 How you discovered it: I was doing some geocaching and searching for waymarks while driving around Bear Lake, when I spotted this marker. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: The Oregon Trail - Francis Parkman, Jr. Covered Wagon Women : Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1852 : The Oregon Trail - Kenneth L. Holmes The Oregon Trail : Yesterday and Today : A Brief History and Pictorial Journal Along the Wagon Tracks of Pioneers - William E. Hill Website Explination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_of_the_Oregon_Trail http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-oregontrail.html Why?: The Oregon Trail became one of the key migration routes that pioneers crossed on their way to the vast west. The historic 2,000-mile (3,200 km) Oregon Trail connected various towns along the Missouri River to Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was used during the 19th century by Great Plains pioneers who were seeking fertile land in the West. On May 16, 1842 the first organized wagon train on the Oregon Trail set out from Elm Grove, Missouri, with more than 100 pioneers. The following year, an estimated 800 immigrants arrived in the Willamette Valley. Hundreds of thousands more would follow, especially after gold was discovered in California in 1849. Directions: This marker is located at the north end of Garden City along Highway 89 towards Montpelier, Idaho, on the west side of the highway. It is close to the Utah/Idaho border. It is along a stretch where the road is quite close to Bear Lake and there is a dirt pull out for visiting vehicles.

Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this Waymark the poster must have a picture of either themselves, GPSr, or mascot. People in the picture with information about the waymark are preferred. If the waymarker can not be in the picture a picture of their GPSr or mascot will qualify. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   06/09/2011 Chasing Blue Sky visited it