"Sumate Prairie"

"Sumate Prairie". from an emigrant's journal original spelling. Imagine feeding your hungry children and skinny ox teams whottleberries here. Helping you spouse repair your tired wagon for tomorrow's dreaded drop down Laurel Hill. Rain clouds gather around Mount Hood's peak. More storms coming. And they say the road gets even worse... , Summit Meadows -- originally called Summit Prairie provided a welcome pause to Oregon Trail pioneers. For days they had endured steep rocky ground, downed trees and constant stream crossings. , An original gathering place for Native American Indians, in 1866 squatter Perry Vickers built the first log cabin here which became another tollgate. By 1905 a large wooden structure known as Summit House, a cedar shake tipi, a barn and corral occupied this clearing. The meadow eventually became a popular camping spot for Willamette Valley recreationalists. , "Drove to the Summit Prairie. Found plenty of grass in the Second Prairie." (now Trillium Lake) -- Orange Gaylord - 185? , Very little good grass for our cattle tonight, but plenty of sour mountain grass (meadow rushes)." -- E.W. Conyers -- 1852 , "Mount Hood stands just north of our camp, with its lofty, white dome penetrating the ethereal (?) as if it had sworn to remain an eternal barrier to the clouds..." -- John Tully Kearns, Emigrant of 1853