In this issue
Updates:
- Casper Convention Registration is Now Live!
- Say Their Names: Officer's Servants with the Army of the West – Presented by Kevin Henson
- OCTA Launches New Podcast!
- Submit Your Volunteer Hours
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- Puyallup Historical Society at the Meeker Mansion Events Schedule
- Northwest Chapter Hike - Gate Creek West - Saturday, June 18th
- Colorado-Cherokee Trail Chapter Zoom Series, July 9
- Mormon Battalion Symposium, Stansbury Park, UT, July 21-24
- Trails Head Chapter Bus Tour on the Oregon-California Trail, July 30
- Mormon Pioneer Trail Symposium, August 18-19, 2022, Council Bluffs, Iowa (Registration information coming soon)
- Casper Convention, August 28 - September 2, 2022
- 2022 National Trails Workshop in Albuquerque - Save the Date for November 2–4, 2022
- OCTA's 41st Annual Convention at Gering, Nebraska - Save the Date for July 25-29, 2023
- Online Survey for Oregon State-Wide Preservation Goals
Books & Publications
- Go West, Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail
Ongoing:
- Order Fresh Coffee and Help OCTA's Bottom Line
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Casper Convention Registration is Now Live!
Join us for OCTA's 40th annual convention from August 28th through September 2nd, 2022. Registration information is now live on our website. See you in Casper!
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Say Their Names: Officer's Servants with the Army of the West – Presented by Kevin Henson
We recorded all of the presentations from the San Diego Symposium last January and have now gotten some of them edited and are starting to put them on OCTA's YouTube Channel. Enjoy this special presentation by Kevin Henson of the Mormon Battalion Association as he discusses officer's servants and slaves with the Mormon Battalion. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel to help us build our following and to get instant updates sent directly to you whenever we upload a new video to our channel.
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OCTA Launches New Podcast!
OCTA Intern and Recent NYU Graduate Charlie Dodge
OCTA intern Charlie Dodge recently wrapped up her internship with OCTA and is set to begin a new career this week with the Center for Public Integrity. She graduated from New York University last week, but as part of her senior capstone project, she created a new podcast for OCTA. In an effort to reach newer, younger, and more diverse audiences, Charlie focused on lesser-known stories, especially stories related to the trail experience of women, children, African-Americans, the Chinese, or American Indians. In her first episode, she interviewed long-time Overland Journal editor Bob Clark about some of the articles for which that publication has earned some renown. It is well-produced, highly entertaining, and even features original music. This first episode checks in at 24-minutes, so we do hope you'll take the time to download it and enjoy! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you hear future episodes.
We are very excited about this new opportunity to reach so many new audiences! We will bring you a new episode in July, so subscribe now and be the first to know when it's live!
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Please Continue to Report
Your Volunteer Hours!!!!
Please continue to turn in your volunteer hours, mileage, expenses paid by you and not reimbursed, time traveling to meetings (including the San Diego Symposium), research, etc. We are attempting to collect data on an ongoing basis throughout the year to present the most accurate picture of all of the incredible work done by our huge team of advocates.
To submit hours, visit our online volunteer hour reporting portal for a simple, fast way to share your hard work with our federal agency partners and budget planners in Congress. Your volunteer hours are matched with appropriations and the Volunteers in Parks program to the financial benefit of our trails. Please report all you have done! It's the most important thing we do!
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The 2022 Event Schedule for the
Puyallup Historical Society at the Meeker Mansion
June 17-19 MEEKER DAYS - Puyallup Main Street Association
July 4th MEEKER 4TH OF JULY ICE CREAM SOCIAL & VALLEY COMMUNITY BAND: Noon - 4pm
October 8th MEEKER CIDER SQUEEZE & OREGON TRAIL: 10am to 3pm
November 26th CHRISTMAS AT THE MEEKER MANSION: Noon to 4pm through end of year
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Northwest Chapter Hike - Gate Creek West - Saturday, June 18th
If you are interested in hiking a portion of the Barlow Road west of Gate Creek (southwest of Wamic, Oregon), please email the hike leader Robin Baker at robinbaker1927@gmail.com indicating you would like to come. Further information will be emailed to you, including the location of where we will be meeting (last week, FS48 was closed by snow below the White River Sno-Park on Hwy 35).
The hike will be approximately 5 miles (2.5 miles each way). Half will be along FS120 over level terrain, half will be up and then down the forested ridge west of Gate Creek. We will hike up to an 1872 Surveyor Note Location, and then down a different route. As a bonus, we will visit the Jarvis Briggs grave along Gate Creek on our way back to the cars.
Sturdy hiking shoes or boots are a must. Bring your lunch, and plenty of water. The weather can be hot this time of year.
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Colorado-Cherokee Trail Chapter Zoom Series
The next event in the chapter’s series of Zoom programs is scheduled for July 9, with Jeff Broome’s presentation based on Chapter 4 of his book, Indian Raids and Massacres: Essays on the Central Plains Indian War. Jeff will discuss the 1865 capture of the Fletcher sisters by Eagle Head’s band of warriors, north of present-day Laramie, Wyoming, a direct retaliation for the Sand Creek Massacre. The older Fletcher sister was rescued after several months of captivity. She and her father spent years trying to find the little sister, Elizabeth (Lizzie). She seemed lost until a newspaper article in 1900 mentioned a white Indian woman living on the Wind River Reservation in Montana. This led to a meeting in 1902 where the two sisters met.
- 1:00 Pacific
- 2:00 Mountain
- 3:00 Central
- 4:00 Eastern
Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85888585238
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Mormon Battalion Symposium
Stansbury Park, Utah
July 21-24
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TRAILS HEAD CHAPTER BUS TOUR ON THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA TRAIL
OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS TO WEST OF LAWRENCE
Saturday, July 30
Sponsored by Trails Head Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association and Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association
Meet at the SE parking lot of Johnson County Community College
on Quivira Road, south of College Boulevard
Bus leaves at 9:00 sharp – Will return at 5:00
$50 which includes box lunch
$40 if you bring your own lunch
Water and afternoon break snacks will be provided for all
Also includes handouts, maps, informative and entertaining tour guides
Speakers on the bus will be Ross Marshall and Pat Traffas. They will point out the location of the trail, topography and how trail alignment is determined in urban areas such as Lawrence
Probable highlights of trail routes and history include:
Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop, Olathe Square, Gardner Junction, Lanesfield School, Bluejacket Crossing Winery (here is where we will eat lunch on outside patio - Wine available for purchase)
Blue Mound, Blanton’s Bridge, Veteran’s Park, Louisiana Street to the Campus Area, Jayhawk Boulevard, stop at Oregon Trail Marker at Chi Omega Circle Fountain with a guest speaker.
Mail checks made out to Trails Head Chapter to Lila Aamodt, 5938 Reeds Rd #202, Mission, KS 66202
Questions to lilaaamodt@gmail.com
INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL AND PHONE CONTACT
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Save the Dates! 40th Anniversary for the
2022 OCTA convention slated for Casper
The Oregon-California ingTrails Association and the Wyoming Chapter of OCTA will hold OCTA’s 40th annual convention, “Leaving the Platte,” in Casper, Wyo, August 28-September 2, 2022.
The convention will include two full days of talks and presentations, and two full days of bus tours to trail sites east and west of Casper on the Oregon/California/Mormon trails—and north of Casper on the Bozeman Trail.
We also plan a private-vehicle trek pre-conference from grave sites near Fort Laramie to Register Cliff and the Guernsey ruts and a tour of indigenous sites in the Red Desert, and a pair of post-conference, private-vehicle treks —over Rocky Ridge and one to numerous graves on private property east of Casper.
Speakers will include keynoter and historian Todd Guenther on the history and meaning of South Pass; Camille Bradford on the huge Oregon Trail centennial gathering at Independence Rock in 1930 organized by her stepfather, Howard Driggs; Clint Gilchrist of the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale, Wyoming, on the fur trade and its connections to the historic trails; a panel on collaborations between the Bureau of Land Management and the LDS Church on management and interpretation of the trails along the Martin’s Cove-South Pass corridor; sessions on the turbulent history and current-day preservation of the Bozeman Trail, which ran north from the North Platte to the gold fields of Montana—and much more.
Activities will include demonstrations by famed South Dakota wheelwright and wagon maker Doug Hansen and a mochila exchange by Pony Express riders.
Other events will include a banquet, a barbecue, an auction, raffle, book room and an authors’ night. Conference headquarters will be the Ramkota Inn in Casper. Ask for the special room rate of $89/night. All information can be found on the convention registration website.
Wyoming has some of the longest and best-preserved trails, swales and pioneer grave sites in the nation. See you in 2022!
Click https://www.wyohistory.org/travel/oregon-trail for much more information on Wyoming’s trails. We will visit many of these sites during the convention.
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OCTA Announces Gering, Nebraska as
Host of Its 2023 Convention
Independence, Missouri – The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) announces that its Board of Directors has unanimously selected Gering, Nebraska as the site for its 41st Annual Convention. The convention is slated to get underway on Tuesday, July 25 and conclude on Saturday, July 29. Next year’s theme is “We Do Old in a New Way” in a nod to the new facilities at Scotts Bluff National Monument, the Chimney Rock Museum, and the Legacy of the Plains Museum. If you think you’ve already seen what western Nebraska has to offer, you’re in for a great surprise, with numerous new exhibits in brand new facilities that help to better tell the story of the 19th century trails of the American West.
The Gering Convention Center will be convention headquarters, with many other activities slated to occur at local landmarks, historic sites, and other facilities. OCTA is partnering with the Gering Visitors Bureau, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Legacy of the Plains Museum, and the Chimney Rock Museum to stage this week-long event. Other partners are still being sought as well.
The convention will feature an array of activities, including day-long guided tours to historic trail sites in both Nebraska and Wyoming; two days of speakers featuring a diverse array of topics that will include not only the Oregon and California National Historic Trails, but also the Pony Express and Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trails, the histories of regional American Indian nations; workshops that may focus on things like the importance of quilts in telling the story of the trails, historic 19th century gun collections, and utilizing trail diaries to conduct genealogical research; evening events that will include a presentation about the trail art of William Henry Jackson at Scotts Bluff National Monument, an awards banquet, a silent and live auction, a closing event at the Legacy of the Plains Museum that will feature a chuckwagon grilled steak dinner, and even a potential concert at the Five Rocks Amphitheater.
Gering last hosted the convention in 2007. Scottsbluff hosted in 1985. Every year, the convention moves to a new site, with Casper, Wyoming hosting this year. Elko, Nevada hosted in 2021. The planning committee is in the early stages of charting out the events and speakers for the week, so stay tuned for future announcements about hotels, travel arrangements, meals, speakers, and tours, among other things. Registration materials will be ready in March 2023 and the general public is invited to all events. Be sure to mark your calendar for July 25-29, 2023, to help us “do old in a new way” in Gering, Nebraska!
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Online Survey for Oregon State-Wide Preservation Goals
This summer and fall Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is asking Oregonians how Oregon's heritage is special to them in a series of 90-minute virtual public meetings and an online survey to direct state-wide preservation goals for the 2024-2029 Oregon Preservation Plan. The SHPO is an office of Oregon Heritage.
The SHPO completes a state-wide preservation plan every five years that describes how the SHPO, government agencies, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, and the public will work together to identify, designate, protect, and treat our state's important historic places. The Plan is required by the National Park Service in Washington DC. The agency partially funds the SHPO through a biannual grant under the provisions of the 1966 Historic Preservation Act. See the current 2017-2023 Oregon Historic Preservation Plan.
Meetings will focus on a specific region or topic, but all are welcome to attend one or more of the meetings. Participants will identify what issues matter most, how to best preserve our history, and what
government agencies, cultural institutions, and each Oregonian can do to protect and share our history. Topic-based meetings will discuss how the heritage community can better address diversity, equity,
and inclusion in cultural resource programs, disaster preparedness and response, and planning for cultural resources in development and infrastructure projects. The meetings will be held Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00, June through September by Zoom video and teleconference. The information from the meetings will be used to create the 2024-2029 Oregon Historic Preservation Plan that will be published in early 2024.
Meeting dates are:
June 29th, Greater Portland Metro Area - Register here.
July 6th, Greater Willamette Valley - Register here.
July 20th, Central and Southeast Oregon - Register here.
August 3rd, Rogue Valley and South Oregon Coast - Register here.
August 17th, I-84 Corridor and Northeast Oregon - Register here.
August 31st, Northwest and Central Oregon Coast - Register here.
September 7th, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access in the Oregon Preservation Plan - Register here.
September 14th, Disaster Preparation and Response for Cultural Resources - Register here.
September 21st, Community Planning for Cultural Resources - Register here.
We're also inviting every Oregonian to participate in our online survey. The survey asks about your interests, what issues matter most, and what we can all do to preserve our history. Go to this page.
Watch our project webpage here.
Facebook page.
You can also watch this awesome video to let all of you know what the plan is all about and how to participate.
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Go West, Young Man: A Father
and Son Rediscover America
on the Oregon Trail
At the sound of the bell on the last day of kindergarten, B.J. Hollars and his six-year-old son, Henry, hop in the car to strike out on a 2,500-mile road trip retracing the Oregon Trail. Their mission: to rediscover America, and Americans, along the way. Throughout their two-week adventure, they endure the usual setbacks (car trouble, inclement weather, and father-son fatigue), but their most compelling drama involves people, privilege, and their attempt to find common ground in an all-too-fractured country.
Writing in the footsteps of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Hollars picks up the trail with his son more than half a century later. Together they sidle up to a stool at every truck stop, camp by every creek, and roam the West. They encounter not only the beauty and heartbreak of America, but also the beauty and heartbreak of a father and son eager to make the most of their time together. From Chimney Rock to Independence Rock to the rocky coast of Oregon, they learn and relearn the devastating truth of America’s exploitative past, as well as their role within it.
Go West, Young Man recounts the author’s effort to teach his son the difficult realities of our nation’s founding while also reaffirming his faith in America today. It also features extensive interviews with OCTA Past President Duane Iles, the Historic Inscriptions on Emigrant Trails and Graves and Sites on the Oregon and California Trails author Randy Brown, and OCTA Association Manager Travis Boley, among others.
You can order your own copy of the book on OCTA's website for only $19.95. It would make an excellent Christmas gift!
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Order Fresh Coffee and Help
OCTA's Bottom Line
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OCTA member Richard Gibson reached out to us with a review of the coffee. He wrote:
"I wanted to say to the group and to the KC ROASTERS that I am thoroughly enjoying my OREGON TRAIL ROAST BLEND COFFEE. It is mellow but full of flavor and is easy to warm back up or drink when cold! Great Idea for whomever came up with this promotion for OCTA! THANKS. I still have another package unopened!"
OCTA Board Member Jean Coupal-Smith added:
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"This is a wonderful brew! I love the rich, bold flavor, even though its medium roast and I usually drink dark roast. I rate it up there at the top with my favorite Starbucks blend of Cafe Verona. It is very smooth."
We concur whole-heartedly with Richard and Jean, though this E-News editor is of the opinion that the Butterfield Bean Medium Roast is slightly better than the wonderful Oregon Trail Medium Roast Blend. We remain excited that KC Coffee Roasters created two specialty coffees with 10% of every purchase being donated to the Oregon-California Trails Association. They are currently featuring Oregon Trail and Butterfield Bean blends. Visit their website at https://www.kccoffeeroasters.com/order-online to order now.
And an extra special thank you to Idaho Chapter President Jerry Eichhorst, whose keen eye discovered this ad from a 1929 issue of the Idaho Statesman!
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