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Oregon Trail Monument
The first wagon train of settlers to
travel over Naches Pass was in the autumn of 1853, the same year that Washington
Territory was established.
The stone tablet inset into the left
front side of the monument is engraved with the following information:
“Marker erected in memory of
pioneers who came over the Naches Branch of the Oregon Trail. Financed by students of
Yale College, Pierce County Pioneer Society and other friends. Sponsored by Washington
State Historical Society, 1941.”
The stone tablet inset into the right
front side of the monument is engraved with the following information:
“Names of Pioneer Families that
came over the Naches Pass 1853. Aiken, Baker, Bell, Biles, Bowen, Bowers, Brooks,
Brunett, Byles, Clinton, Davis, Day, Downey, Finch, Fitch, Frazier, Gant, Gordon,
Greenman, Guess, Hampton, Hill, Himes, Judson, Kincaid, Lane, Light, Longmire,
McCollough, Melville, Mitchell, Mueller, Neilson, Ogle, Porter, Risdon, Sargent, West,
Woodward, Woolery, Wright, Young.”
The round bronze plaque by James Earle
Fraser and Laura Gardin Fraser, inset into the right front side of the monument, depicts
a covered wagon drawn by a pair of oxen heading westward into a setting sun over the
caption “Oregon Trail Monument”.
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