The Barlow Road (at inception, Mount Hood Road) is a historic road in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, with authorization of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, and served as the last overland segment of the Oregon Trail. Its construction allowed covered wagons to cross the Cascade Range and reach the Willamette Valley, which had previously been nearly impossible. Even so, it was by far the most harrowing 100 miles (160km) of the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200km) Oregon Trail.[2]
Before the opening of the Barlow Road, pioneers traveling by land from the east followed the Oregon Trail to Wascopam Mission (now The Dalles) and floated down the Columbia River to Fort Vancouver, then a perilous and expensive journey. It was also possible to drive livestock over Lolo Pass on the north side of Mount Hood, but that trail was too rugged for vehicles and unsuitable for wagons. A trading post (allowed by the Department of War) had been built where river crossings could be made along with the disassembly of wagons to make rafts suitable for floating down the remainder of the Columbia.[citation needed]
The Barlow Road begins at Wascopam Mission and heads south to Tygh Valley (some consider Tygh Valley the origin), then turns west and roughly parallels the White River on the north and then west, crosses the south shoulder of Mount Hood at Barlow Pass, follows Camp Creek and the Sandy River for some way, and finally leads to Oregon City. The road was rendered largely irrelevant in the early 1900s by the construction of the Mount Hood Highway. It still exists as a dirt road in some places, while many other parts have been paved over by newer streets and highways.
When Sam Barlow arrived at The Dalles late September 1845, as many as sixty families were waiting for river transport. The expected wait was more than ten days, and the transportation "exorbitantly" priced. Local inquiries turned up little information about traveling over the mountains except that water, timber, and grazing were plentiful. Barlow and H. M. Knighton set out to determine the feasibility of a route, seeking a more expedient and less expensive way to the Willamette Valley. Knighton decided it was impractical after 20 or 25 miles (30–40km) and returned. Barlow forged on with a train of seven wagons, intending to return for river transport if the mountain passage proved impractical.[3]
On October 1, 1845, Barlow and three men scouted ahead of their company and entered Mount Hood's foothills from the east near Tygh Creek, about 35 miles (56km) from the mouth of the Deschutes River. They came within perhaps 12 miles (19km) of Mount Hood. They thought they had glimpsed the Willamette Valley, and learned from the Indigenous people in the region of a trail leading to Oregon City, but returned to Tygh Creek about five days after their departure. There Joel Palmer was waiting for him with a 23 wagon party. Palmer had followed Barlow for a better route, and had just returned from exploring the same area.[4] The combined company organized road clearing through the forest, mostly by burning.
A marker on the Barlow Road, near its crossing with Oregon Route 35
The clearing party made it to the top of a ridge, now known as Barlow Pass, where they were effectively lost. Barlow, Palmer, and a man named Harrison Porter Locke hiked the south face of Mount Hood west of Palmer Glacier to scout a westward route off the mountain. Palmer, in better physical condition than his companions, climbed high on a glacier (likely Zigzag Glacier), and took detailed notes on the surrounding ridges and rivers. They returned to the group, arranged for guards for their wagons at a place they named Fort Deposit.[5] Several families in wagons ill-suited for travel through the wilderness remained at Fort Deposit, while the remainder returned to The Dalles. Barlow's group followed the Sandy River west on foot. Palmer noted an intersection with a trail coming from The Dalles by way of Lolo Pass, around the north side of Mount Hood, which had previously been the only overland trail traversed by pioneers.[6] Near the present-day city of Sandy, they turned southwest to reach Eagle Creek and Philip Foster's farm near present-day Clackamas.[2]
That autumn, Barlow considered the route over the mountains and petitioned the Provisional Legislature of Oregon for permission to build a road on December 9, 1845, claiming that his estimated cost of $4000 was lower than that of others familiar with the route. Permission was granted with a vote of 8-2 on December 17, 1845,[7] approved by Speaker pro-tem Henry A. G. Lee, and signed into law by Governor George Abernethy.[8]
God never made a mountain but what He provided a place for man to go over or around it.
—Sam Barlow, while awaiting a Columbia River boat, contemplated an overland road.[2]
The road's toll was authorized for two years effective January 1, 1846 and specified toll rates at five dollars (about a week's wages,[9] equivalent to about $170.00 today[10]) for each wagon and ten cents for each head of horse, mule, ass, or horned cattle. The grant named the route "Mount Hood Road"—but it was immediately known as the "Barlow Road."[8][11]
The road was built with the financial backing of Philip Foster and a crew of forty men. Five toll gates were eventually built along the route. Barlow's estimate of $4000 (equivalent to $131,000 today[10]) had underestimated the number of trees to be cut down and forgotten the numerous challenging bridges that would have to be built over rivers such as the Sandy, Zigzag, White, and Salmon.[11] The White River continues to challenge its bridges to this day.[12][13]
In its first season of operation, Barlow recorded the passage of 152 wagons, 1300 sheep, 1559 mules, horses, and cattle. Despite ongoing maintenance, the general condition of the road was considered to vary from "rough to barely passable."[14]
Early use
A fall view from central Wasco County that travelers would have seen approaching Mount Hood from the east along the Barlow Road—taken above Pine Hollow
The direction of travel was effectively one-way until 1861, when a better road was blasted through Laurel Hill. Despite the expense and difficulties of passage, the road was very popular, with more than a thousand immigrants and approximately 150 wagons recorded in the first year of operation.[15] Approximately three-quarters of the settlers entering the Willamette Valley traveled the Barlow Road,[16] with most of the remainder choosing the Columbia River route.[2]
Barlow's concession expired in 1848, and he and Foster terminated their largely unprofitable partnership on November 29, 1848. Barlow turned the road over to the state, but it fell into disrepair, and became almost impassible.[17] Others continued to operate the toll road, but weather and mountain conditions made this a financial struggle.[11] By 1863, the toll had decreased to $2.50 per wagon and team.[9]
From the summit of the Cascade Range westward to Sandy, the Mount Hood Loop Highway is in substantially the same location as the Barlow Road, though modern engineering has solved some of Samuel K. Barlow's greatest difficulties. East of the summit the Barlow Road has been in disuse for many years for a considerable distance down the eastern slope, especially where it traversed the canyon of White River. The Oak Grove Road from Salmon River Meadows to Wapinitia was not a part of the original Barlow Road, though frequently spoken of as such.[18]
The construction of the Barlow Road contributed more towards the prosperity of the Willamette Valley and the future State of Oregon, than any other achievement prior to the building of the railways in 1870.
In 1849, a military wagon train destined for Oregon forts passed over the road. It carried 250 short tons (230t) of munitions in more than 400 wagons pulled by 1700 mules. From the beginning of Barlow Road to the camp the soldiers made at what has been known since as Government Camp, they abandoned 45 wagons after dozens of mules died of starvation.[19]
Later use and historic designations
Various owners operated the road until 1882. Ownership then passed to the Mount Hood & Barlow Road Company. E. Henry Wemme purchased that company in 1912, and made improvements to the road. Wemme's attorney, George W. Joseph, became the owner upon Wemme's death in 1914, in a probate dispute so contentious that it shaped the 1930 race for Governor of Oregon. Joseph and his wife donated the road to the people of Oregon in 1919.[7][8]
On the western side of the Cascades, U.S. Route 26 follows more or less the same route from Sandy to Government Camp; south of Government Camp, US 26 follows a valley just west of the Barlow Road's route along Barlow Creek. The route is concurrent with a few miles of the southern end of Oregon Route 35, and much of the Mount Hood Highway.
The Barlow Road is intact as a dirt road in a roughly north–south stretch along Barlow Creek; other portions are pristine ruts up to six feet (1.8m) deep.[2][9] The easternmost part of the original Barlow Road in Wasco County traverses an unpopulated area within Mount Hood National Forest and follows small Forest Service roads and "Jeep trails", then Rock Creek Dam Road, and finally Wamic Market Road, north of the White River, from the Cascades to Tygh Valley. The areas east of Mount Hood National Forest have always been sparsely populated. Good wagon wheel rut viewing is possible at Pioneer Woman's Grave near Bennett Pass and in several other places. Much of the Clackamas County side is buried under US 26. Overall, about twenty percent of the road is still visible today.[9]
A roadside marker and trail at Laurel Hill (just west of Government Camp) provides history and access to the portion where a sixty percent grade was present in the early Barlow Road. Wagons were lowered down the hill winched by ropes wrapped around trees.[23]
Tygh Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 224 at the 2000 census.
The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately 75-mile-long (121 km) scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United States, it has been recognized in numerous ways, including being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, being designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, being designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and being considered a "destination unto itself" as an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The historic roadway was bypassed by the present Columbia River Highway No. 2 from the 1930s to the 1950s, leaving behind the old two-lane road. The road is now mostly owned and maintained by the state through the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Historic Columbia River Highway No. 100 or the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.
The Mount Hood Corridor is a part of Oregon between Sandy and Government Camp, in Clackamas County. It is named after Mount Hood and has served travelers going in both directions since the days of Native Americans and Oregon Trail migrants. The area between Alder Creek and Government Camp is sometimes known as Hoodland.
The Sandy River is a 56-mile (90 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northwestern Oregon in the United States. The Sandy joins the Columbia about 14 miles (23 km) upstream of Portland.
The Clackamas River is an approximately 83-mile (134 km) tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, in the United States. Draining an area of about 940 square miles (2,435 km2), the Clackamas flows through mostly forested and rugged mountainous terrain in its upper reaches, and passes agricultural and urban areas in its lower third. The river rises in eastern Marion County, about 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast of Salem. The headwaters are on the slopes of Olallie Butte in the Mount Hood National Forest, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Mount Jefferson, at an elevation of 4,909 feet (1,496 m) in the Cascade Range. The Clackamas flows briefly north and then flows northwest through the mountains, passing through North Fork Reservoir and Estacada. It then emerges from the mountains southeast of Portland. It joins the Willamette near Oregon City and forms the boundary between Oregon City and Gladstone.
The White River is a tributary of the Deschutes River, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long, in north-central Oregon in the United States. It drains a scenic mountainous area of the Columbia Plateau on the east side of the Cascade Range southeast of Mount Hood. In the 1840s, a section of the Oregon Trail called the Barlow Road passed through the river corridor. This section of the road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lolo Pass is a mountain pass 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Mount Hood and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Zigzag, Oregon, on the Clackamas–Hood River county line. It divides the Sandy River watershed on the southwest from the Hood River watershed on the northeast.
The Applegate Trail was an emigrant trail through the present-day U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon used in the mid-19th century by emigrants on the American frontier. It was originally intended as a less dangerous alternative to the Oregon Trail by which to reach the Oregon Territory. Much of the route was coterminous with the California Trail.
The Mount Hood National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in the U.S. state of Oregon, located 62 miles (100 km) east of the city of Portland and the northern Willamette River valley. The Forest extends south from the Columbia River Gorge across more than 60 miles (97 km) of forested mountains, lakes and streams to the Olallie Scenic Area, a high lake basin under the slopes of Mount Jefferson. The Forest includes and is named after Mount Hood, a stratovolcano and the highest mountain in the state.
Government Camp is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, on the base of Mount Hood and north of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. It is the only town within 5 miles (8 km) of Mount Hood and therefore is the de facto "mountain town" or "ski town". It is the gateway to several ski resorts, with the most popular being Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl. Government Camp also has its own, smaller ski resort, Summit Pass.
The Mount Hood Highway No. 26 is the Oregon Department of Transportation's designation for a 96.74-mile-long (155.69 km) highway from Portland east around the south side of Mount Hood and north via Bennett Pass to Hood River. It is marked as U.S. Route 26 from Portland to near Mount Hood and Oregon Route 35 the rest of the way to Hood River.
The Bull Run River is a 21.9-mile (35.2 km) tributary of the Sandy River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the lower end of Bull Run Lake in the Cascade Range, it flows generally west through the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU), a restricted area meant to protect the river and its tributaries from contamination. The river, impounded by two artificial storage reservoirs as well as the lake, is the primary source of drinking water for the city of Portland, Oregon.
Philip Foster was one of the first settlers in Oregon, United States. The farmstead he established in Eagle Creek in 1847 became a stopping post for pioneers heading west along the Oregon Trail. Approximately 10,000 emigrants are believed to have passed through. The farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Salmon River is a 33.5-mile (53.9 km) river in the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon that drains part of southwestern Mount Hood. The entire length of the river is a protected National Wild and Scenic River. Several portions are in protected wilderness. It is affluent to the Sandy River, a tributary of the Columbia River.
General Joel Palmer was an American pioneer of the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. He was born in Upper Canada, and spent his early years in New York and Pennsylvania before serving as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is a major cross-state United States Numbered Highway with its western terminus in the U.S. state of Oregon, connecting US 101 on the Oregon Coast near Seaside with the Idaho state line east of Nyssa. Local highway names include the Sunset Highway No. 47, Mount Hood Highway No. 26, and John Day Highway No. 5 before continuing into Idaho and beyond.
The historic 2,170-mile (3,490 km) Oregon Trail connected various towns along the Missouri River to Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was used during the 19th century by Great Plains pioneers who were seeking fertile land in the West and North.
Roger Cooke was an American artist and muralist. His work is best known for its historical depictions of local Native American tribes. He has painted over 60 murals across the country, particularly in small towns along the Oregon Trail, although few still remain.
↑ Highway 35 was washed out by the White River on November 6, 2006 and remained closed for 32 days; repair work continued through February. "Highway 35 Reopens Friday Dec. 8"(PDF). Oregon Department of Transportation. December 8, 2006. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 17, 2006.
↑ Grauer, Jack (1975). Mount Hood: A Complete History. Grauer. p.20. ISBN0-930584-01-5.
↑ Jensen, Jamie. "The Oregon Trail". Road Trip USA. Avalon Travel Publishing. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
↑ "Agency History 1914–1939". Oregon State Archives, Department of Transportation Records. Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
↑ "Laurel Hill Chute". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2008. Laurel Hill was once the site of a horrific descent off the southern slopes of Mt. Hood. The hill was a series of three declines, the worst of which was reported to be a 60 percent slope. The current highway is a six percent grade. Pioneers used ropes and sheer strength to lower their wagons down the near-vertical slopes on their way to make land claims in Oregon City.
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