FIRST - Road Built Over Cascade Range (Barlow Road), Oregon - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

The first road over the Cascade Range was built in 1845-1846 by Samuel "Sam" K. Barlow and Joel Palmer and later Philip Foster. They blazed the Barlow Road which wound around the south shoulder of Mt. Hood as an alternative to the costly and dangerous Columbia River Route. But the road was not for the faint of heart. Roots and branches, fallen trees and logs, streams, sloughs and marshes, steep hills, etc. made the travel intolerable. The last 100 miles were the most difficult part of the Oregon Trail no matter which way the emigrants traveled. You can walk west toward Pioneer Womans Grave or east toward Devils Half Acre Meadow and see traces of the original wagon ruts. Some are nearly five feet deep. Instructions for logging waymark: A photograph is required of you (or your GPS receiver, if you are waymarking solo) and the signboard.

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