Old Oregon Trail - West Boise

Old Oregon Trail - West Boise. . Between 1843 and 1869 over 300,000 emigrants fulfilled Americas's Manifest Destiny by voluntarily relocating to Oregon and California. Their nearly 2,000 mile journey along game trails long used by the early Native Americans would become known as the Oregon Trail. Many of those early pioneers passed this site, pausing to trade with the Native Americans living here and later with travelers who chose the Boise area for their new homes. Emigrant diaries note the trail's route passed here. , One of those early emigrants, Ezra Meeker, returned back along the route passing near here in 1906 and 1910. His purpose for making the trip at age 76 was to seek protection and preservation of the Oregon Trail as an important American historical heritage. Sculptor Avard Fairbanks, moved by Meeker's effort, prepared a bronze sculpture, which has been recast and placed in this monument. His "Medallion" captures the anguish and the hardships suffered by those early pioneers and preserve the memory of that long journey to a new beginning utilized by so many brave Americans. , On August 5, 2008, the descendants of Avard Fairbanks in cooperation with Staples. The Idaho and Northwest Chapters of the Oregon-California Trails Association, and the Snake River Outpost No. 1811 of Lucinda J. Saunders Chapter No. 1881, E Clampus Vitus, Dedicate this monument to the memory of the many people who traveled the "Old Oregon Trail."