Ezra Meeker and the Oregon Trail

Everything is backwards here. Normally, I start with a postcard and then set out to find the story. In this case I found out about Ezra Meeker and then sought out a postcard.  I visited the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, where they have Ezra Meeker's wagon on display - the very one you see below. The museum used to have the actual stuffed oxen attached to the wagon too, but I didn't see them when I was there. Just as well.

Ezra is the guy who's standing next to the wagon with the ragged clothing and the white beard. After seeing his covered wagon and learning about him, I became fascinated with the history and decided I had to find an Ezra Meeker postcard. Ezra Meeker originally followed the Oregon Trail out to the Pacific Northwest from Indiana with his wife in 1852. He settled in Puyallup, Washington and grew hops. He also tried his hand at a number of other things, including prospecting for gold and trying to dehydrate fruits and vegetables.

Above all though, Ezra Meeker was concerned that the Oregon Trail, the route traveled by over 400,000 emigrants on foot, on horseback, and in wagons, would disappear and be forgotten. The trip along the 2,000-mile wagon trail took four to six months. It was not an easy journey. Thousands died from disease, Indian attacks, freezing to death, drowning, and even scurvy on their way to settle the West, but the phenomenon of western settlement fed by the Oregon Trail was momentous for North America.  By 1869, the transcontinental railroad had been completed, so there was a viable alternative, but there was also a threat that the Oregon Trail and its importance in the settling of the West would be forgotten.

Meeker made it his personal mission to ensure that the Oregon Trail would not be forgotten. In 1906, at the age of 76, Ezra Meeker loaded up his oxcart and headed East (backwards) on the Oregon Trail in an effort to raise awareness. He gave speeches along the way and sold postcards and souvenirs to cover his expenses. He also erected markers along the trail.

Meeker decided to travel all the way to Washington, D.C. where he met with President Theodore Roosevelt, who was supportive of Meeker's crusade. Along the way, Meeker also drove his covered wagon down 5th Avenue in New York City. (While he was looking for a place to camp, his driver was arrested for driving cattle on a New York City street.) Meeker made the trip again by ox cart in 1910 and made additional trips by car and plane. His later dream was to erect beacons along the Oregon Trail, so that even airplanes would be able to see the route clearly.

Meeker was obviously eccentric, and many considered him a "corn doctor" for selling trinkets and charging admission to see the inside of his wagon, but I admire his relentless dedication to the cause. I am convinced that he used himself to promote the cause rather than the other way around.  Although Meeker's grand dreams for memorializing the Oregon Trail were not as successful as he had hoped, we still have him to thank that the trail is remembered so well today. At the time of his death in 1928, the 98-year-old Meeker was still promoting the Oregon Trail and was in the process of planning another trip by automobile, supported by Henry Ford.

If you like to travel through history with pictures, you won't want to miss Sepia Saturday.

More Fish for Friday

More lovely fish.  Don't forget to read this previous post if you want to know more about the French tradition of April Fish.

The message on the front of this one this one says: With my thoughts to those I cherish. The message on the back is mysterious. Often these cards were sent anonymously and signed "guess who" or something along those lines.  On the left-hand side of the card, the message includes the phrase: Seek and you shall find. 

What's really amusing about the card is the right-hand side which is just the address written out as a comical narrative: Miss Marthe Jamisson who lives with her parents on ___ street in _____ town etc.  The narrative ends with Department unknown, Province - seek and you shall find. (Europe)    I thought at first that it had been hand-delivered, because no postman would put up with that kind of nonsense, but there is a canceled stamp on the front of the card. It seems this postman had a sense of humor.

Boring Hawaii

Hawaii is a beautiful place, so it seems inexcusable to create ugly pictures of the islands, but there are lots of  them:

The fact that the cars are now considered vintage makes them more interesting, but let's face it, this is a postcard of a parking lot in front of a motel. This postcard is from the Hilo Motel on the Big Island. The one below is from the Maui Palms Hotel.

The last one is a view of Kailua, Kona on the Big Island. There's a lot to see there, but you wouldn't know it from the postcard.