Kelso in Cowlitz County, Washington — The American West (Northwest)
Oregon Trail
Photographed by Shirley A Stirling, November 6, 2017
1. Oregon Trail Marker
1844
Erected 1916 by Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution in the State of Washington.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Oregon Trail, and the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1844.
Location. 46° 8.676′ N, 122° 54.525′ W. Marker is in Kelso, Washington, in Cowlitz County. It is on Allen Street (Old U.S. 4) west of 5th Avenue North, on the right when traveling west. The marker is on the left side of the entrance to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 405 Allen Street, Kelso WA 98626, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Washington State. It is also on the American Pacific Coast, in the Pacific Northwest, and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and
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Other nearby markers. At least 7 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: To the memory of (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Public Library (approx. 1.4 miles away); Mary Richardson Walker (approx. 1½ miles away); 1852 Monticello Convention (approx. 2 miles away); In Memoriam (approx. 9 miles away); Ezra Meeker First Home Site (approx. 9.8 miles away); Oregon Trail 1844 (approx. 9.8 miles away).
Other markers no longer nearby. The Monticello Convention held here, 1852 (was approx. 1½ miles away but has been confirmed missing); Robert A. Long (was approx. 1½ miles away but has been permanently removed).
More about this marker. DAR and SAR restored the marker for its hundredth birthday.
Regarding Oregon Trail. The 2,170-mile Oregon Trail begins at Gardner, Kansas, and extends northwest through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Washington is often neglected as people tend, in some scholars' viewpoints, to mistakenly believe that the Oregon Trail ended in Oregon! In the early twentieth century, Washington State citizens attempted
Photographed by Shirley A Stirling, June 27, 2019
2. Oregon Trail Marker on the re-dedication day.
To mark the Trail in Washington State remained just an idea, however, until the Sacajawea Chapter, partnered in a project led by Emma Chadwick, a member of the chapter and assisted by Ezra Meeker, Oregon Trail pioneer and promoter, to install a boulder with a bronze plaque, "Marking The End of the Oregon Trail 1844 " in what is now Olympia's Sylvester Park, also the site of a 1855-1856 blockhouse. Meeker's interest in this project arose, in part, from his passion to rename the Pacific Highway as Pioneer Way, since it followed the trek of the first Euro-American Oregon Trail travelers who ended their journey in what later became Washington State. (It was of his many projects designed to ensure that the entire Oregon Trail was preserved and remembered.) The Pacific Highway traversed
Photographed by Shirley A Stirling, June 27, 2019
3. Oregon Trail Marker collage #1 of the re-dedication day.
NSDAR President General Daisy Allen Story visited WSSDAR in August 1916, not only to attend the State Conference in Seattle but also
Photographed by Shirley A Stirling, June 27, 2019
4. Oregon Trail Marker collage #2 of the re-dedication day.
Kelso Downtown Historic Walking Tour
This marker was furnished by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. It was originally placed near the Cowlitz River on Pacific Ave. in 1916, however due to changes in the area it was relocated here.
Click for more information.
This marker was furnished by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. It was originally placed near the Cowlitz River on Pacific Ave. in 1916, however due to changes in the area it was relocated here.
Click for more information.
In 1914, State Regent Ada McCleary appointed an "Old Trail Committee," chaired by Mrs. Ellis and made this the focus of her administration. Kansas had appropriated $2,000 to mark the trail in their state, and Nebraska and Wyoming secured plans to erect monuments at old forts and state boundaries in projects of $2,500 each. Like Washington, Idaho and Oregon were still formulating plans but the State Conference of Oregon pledged a monument at the Oregon side of the proposed bridge which would span the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver. (The proposed Oregon marker was later adopted by Washington.)
The Washington State Highway Department had previously "marked" the original trail with the creation of the Pacific Highway. For the marker project, ten sites were identified using pioneers and all historical expertise available, including SAR member Hazard Stevens. Governor Lister and the Highway Commissioner were avid supporters of this project.
The markers were placed along the Pacific Highway, designed to be legible from inside a vehicle for travelers and near Oregon Trail campsites and other historical sites. In 1916 and 1917 the State of Washington State Societies of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution installed and dedicated a series of 11 custom-made markers honoring the Oregon Trail pioneers and documenting the journey from their entry into present-day Washington State at the Columbia River by Vancouver up to Tumwater in Puget Sound. It was a time in which the Oregon Trail pioneers were getting older and passing away. There was a sense of urgency to document their great adventure and honor them before it was too late.
Oregon Trail Pioneer Ezra Meeker retraced the trail by covered wagon, for public education and with much publicity, from 19061908, seeking to inspire the preservation of the trail and to inspire the building of monuments in communities along the way. His trek reached New York, and in Washington, D.C. he was greeted by President Teddy Roosevelt.
He later retraced the trail several times more, by various conveyances - from oxcart to airplane! He worked, for the rest of his life promoting the Oregon Trail and, in 1913, teamed up with the Sacajawea DAR Chapter in Olympia to mark what they determined as the end of the Oregon Trail. The Sacajawea DAR Chapter donated a native granite boulder installed with a bronze plaque. The goal of Ezra and the DAR was to:
1) honor the Oregon Trail pioneers who reached Puget Sound;
2) document and preserve the Oregon Trail;
3) promote the formation of a national highway across the country; and
4) attempt to influence the legislature to rename the road that originally took travelers from the Columbia River to Puget Sound from Pacific Highway to Pioneer Way.
The marker series was first conceived at that time and, over several years, pursued by the WA State Society of the Daughters (WSSDAR) together with the WA State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (WASSAR).
Once installed the markers were dedicated, over several months, starting in the north and working south. Below we have listed them from south to north, as the wagon trail rolled, under the modern terms for their locations:
Clark County Vancouver; Cowlitz County - Woodland, Kalama, Kelso; Lewis County - Toledo, Matilda Jackson State Park, Borst Park; Thurston County - Grand Mound, Tenino, Bush Prairie, Tumwater
In 2016, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the placements of this marker series, Shirley Stirling, Regent of Sacajawea Chapter, NSDAR, and Diane Smith enlisted help to restore the markers that had suffered the ravages of time and weather and had become quite hard to read. They obtained the assistance of Mick Hersey, a specialist in restoration technique and SAR member, to teach interested DAR members from various chapters how to perform archival restoration. Cindy Johnson-Sakuma, WSSDAR State Historic Preservation Chairman encouraged the team and assisted. Happily, the project was complete well before the end of 2016.
The City of Toledo showed enthusiasm, with even the mayor assisting on the work day. Afterward, a community group landscaped the area around the marker. They topped it all off with a community rededication and celebration, assisted by DAR and local community groups.
Source: History and Register 1924, Washington State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, p 36-40.
Additional keywords. America West (Northwest)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 26, 2023, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. This page has been viewed 555 times since then and 79 times this year. Last updated on January 26, 2025, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. Photos: 1. submitted on October 26, 2023, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 5, 2023, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
