Rain dropped from the heavens like a pitcher pouring water when my great-great-grandfather and his party entered the Willamette Valley on November 3, 1847. Six months on the trail had left him weary and arriving in the midst of fall’s annual deluge didn’t help his spirits. Astride his horse, he followed the river’s edge seeking […]
Willamette Valley
- General
- ...
Story Keeper#2–Barreling Along
When my great-great-grandfather left his family on the east coast and headed west, he brought two important skills with him. He had apprenticed as a cooper, working for the Syracuse Salt Works, making fifty cents a day. He had logged in the woods as well, learning the skills a frontiersman would need to tame the […]