Oregon seems written to appeal to prospective emigrants, yet the authors do in fairness state some disadvantages of the trip and some portions of Oregon. There must have been some magic in the name Oregon for it drew thousands of persons over the Oregon Trail and Oregon achieved statehood some 40 years before Washington became a state. By 1879 migration over the Oregon and California Trails had slowed to a trickle, in part because of the completion of a trans-continental railroad to California the previous year, but a few families, short of money or traveling with a sizeable number of animals, continued to come out on the Oregon Trail until the beginning of the twentieth century or a few years past that point. A few late comers were pleased to find electric street cars in the streets of Walla Walla.
Glen Adams
Fairfield, Washington
January, 1982
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