Oregon City was the western terminus of the Oregon Trail, about 2200 miles from Independence, MO. Here at Abernethy Green in the fall of 1845, members of the Barlow-Palmer-Rector Wagon Train entered Oregon City as best they could. After pioneering a road from the Dalles over the Cascades, they were forced to leave their wagons at "Fort Deposit" over the winter. In December 1845, the provisional Legislature of Oregon granted Samuel K. Barlow's petition to build a toll road, and the Barlow Road became the first wagon road over the Cascades into the Willamette Valley.

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Oregon City, Oregon · USA