Introduction
La Grande: 260 miles E of Portland, 52 miles SE of Pendleton; Baker City: 41 miles SE of La Grande, 75 miles NW of Ontario
Though pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail in the 1840s found good resting places in the Powder River and Grande Ronde valleys, where Baker City and La Grande now stand, few stayed to put down roots in this remote region. It would not be until the 1860s that pioneers actually looked on these valleys as places to live and make a living. However, even those first pioneers who just passed through left signs of their passage that persist to this day. Wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail can still be seen in this region, and outside of Baker City stands the most interesting and evocative of the state's museums dedicated to the Oregon Trail experience.
By 1861, however, the Blue Mountains, which had been a major impediment to wagon trains, were crawling with people -- gold prospectors, though, not farmers. A gold strike in these mountains started a small gold rush...
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Oregon Trail Regional Museum
In a large building that once housed Baker City's public swimming pool, this museum is filled with pioneer memorabilia, as well as an extensive...
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- Museums
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National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
Atop sagebrush-covered Flagstaff Hill, just north of Baker City, stands a monument to the largest overland migration in North American history....
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- Museums
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