Following the deaths at the Whitman Mission in December 1847, emigrants travelling the Oregon Trail elected to bypass the jaunt of the trail to the north following the descent out of the Blue Mountains.  Instead, the new path led down the Umatilla River before heading out across the dry Columbia Plateau roughly parallel to the river about 6-8 miles to the south.

Other blog posts have covered the crossing of the Blues and routes further to the west – Barlow Trail, John Day to The Dalles, as well as an overview of the route between the Grande Ronde Valley and the John Day River.  Here the focus is on the 37-mile section leading from the point of descent out of the Blue Mountains to the Umatilla River crossing at Echo.  Much of this route of the Oregon Trail has disappeared under highways, wheatfields and urban development.  There are two spots where ruts of the many wagons coming west are still visible.  One spot is below Echo at Corral Springs.  The other is west of Echo at the BLM-administered Echo Meadows.

TRAIL BEGINNINGS

The Oregon Trail developed on the fly by the large emigrant parties of 1843 as they traipsed across the Blue Mountains cutting a narrow path through forests as they rolled.  Until 1847, from the bottom of the Blues, parties marched north to re-supply at the Whitman Mission on the Walla Walla River.  After the Whitman killings and subsequent Cayuse War, the Trail shortened by heading down the Umatilla River in a straighter westward direction.

The ruts of the many wagons coming off Emigrant Hill from Deadman Pass along a meadowed ridge traversed today by a pipeline are still visible.  The path veered off to the west about a mile and a half from the banks of the Umatilla River.  Running parallel to the river, the Trail ran through the area where the present Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla have the administration buildings.  The road led along the south side of the river following Emigrant Road and US 30 before crossing the river in what is today downtown Pendleton.

Along the north bank for several miles to the west side of the city the Trail then climbed up from the river ascending Rieth Ridge.  The trail parallels the Umatilla on the north rim of the river’s canyon through area mostly plowed into wheatfields today.  After about twelve miles, the Trail then dropped down to the river again – Corral Springs – eventually crossing it a last time at the crossing at Echo.  From the Lower Umatilla Crossing, the Trail headed west across the Columbia Plateau to the next water source at Butter Creek, 6 to 7 miles onward.  A couple miles short of Butter Creek, wagon ruts still lie in evidence at Echo Meadows.

CORRAL SPRINGS

The Umatilla River drops into a canyon which an early settler named Happy Canyon – the name today adopted by the Pendleton Round-Up for the indoor pageant commemorating local history of the Pendleton region.  The canyon drops about 700 feet deep with the real difficulty found in cliffs dropping to the river from the hamlets of Reith – just west of Pendleton – to Nolin – seven miles upstream from Echo.  Above the north rim of the canyon, the land was flat making progress go by quickly.

The point at which the wagons dropped back down to the river is just downstream from Nolin.  Today, the lands where the Trail descended are owned by the Ramos Family Ranch.  The Ramos family dates to Joseph Ramos who originally grew up in the Azores of the Atlantic.  Joseph was not the only Azorean to settle in tiny Echo.  Enough families came to build the 1913 St Peter’s Catholic Church found on the west side of the Umatilla River in Echo.

the site

Two sets of parallel ruts descend off the canyon rim towards the river.  There is a gate you can go through to observe the ruts lying about a ¼ mile from the gate.  There is a little sign explaining the significance of the site just inside the gate.  You must look closely for the site though.  “No trespass” signs are the ones most visible, but the family does allow public access as long as there are no problems with garbage or vandalism.  There is a small parking area along Reith Road – best accessed driving south five miles from Echo past the Echo schools.  You can also access the site from the western exit into Pendleton.  Turn west onto Reith Road for a slow, but scenic trip along the bottom of the canyon.  This road is the old route of US Highway 30.

ECHO and ITS FORT

The Lower Umatilla Crossing was a campsite for Overlanders to rest up before pushing out over the dry expanses of the Columbia Plateau.  In 1851, an Indian agency became established for the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes for their new reservation.  A post office also built. 

One emigrant noted 2 September 1853, “ …the river has a large channel but water all stinks, and we crossed on a bed of gravel and pebble stones, for which the stream is famous all along.  On the west bank is the United States Agency, a very neat looking frame house painted white, it looked cheering, as we had not seen a frame house since we left fort Laramie.  There had passed the agency up to this morning of emigrants three thousand six hundred, of wagons and of stock, ten thousand three hundred.  Here we leave the Umatilla and strike out on one seemingly endless prairie as there is no timber of any kind to be seen in any direction …”

The Agency was burned down by the Cayuse during the Yakama War in 1855.  In its place, the Oregon Mounted Volunteers built a 100 square foot fort named Fort Henrietta after the wife of Major Granville Haller.  Haller was serving in the US Army out of Fort Dalles.  His wife loaned a wagon to the OMV to help keep the volunteers better supplied.  The fort became abandoned in April 1856 and reportedly destroyed though other accounts indicate it could still have been standing for a couple years after. 

fort site and park today

The Agency and fort were located on the west side of the river next to St Peter’s Church.  Echo erected a replica on the east side of the river in 1985.  Since no plans existed for the fort, the Middle Blockhouse – Fort Rains – from the Columbia River Cascades seems to have been a model.  The fort was not erected to last the second time around any better than the first.  Judged unsafe, the little blockhouse was demolished recently.  The original Umatilla County jail sits on the park site – donated by another family with Portuguese ancestors – along with a wagon exhibit.

POST-TRAIL TOWN

The town of Echo began with settlers stopping for good in the 1860’s.  A town was not platted until 1880 and named for one of the town fathers, J. H. Koontz’s daughters, Echo.  The Oregon Railroad & Navigation built a railway through here in 1883 giving the town a boost.  1915, Echo boasted of 600 citizens though that is down to 70 today.  Sheep became a major industry at the turn of the 19^th century. They still represent a major contribution to the local economy, seen with the Cunningham Sheep Company headquartered in nearby Nolin.

TRAIL FORKS

From the Lower Umatilla Crossing, most went west across the Columbia Plateau.  Another possibility was to continue down the Umatilla crossing along the route roughly taken by the old US 30 highway.   The problem with this route was major sands lying along the path making travel more difficult.  There was little water to be found also crossing the deserts towards Boardman.

ECHO MEADOWS

At 5.5 miles west of Echo on the Oregon Trail Road is a short gravel road leading to the north and the Echo Meadows Trailhead.  The site protects about a mile of remaining wagon rutted original trail bed.  Echo Meadows was not a major stopping site since there was no permanent water source.  Most Overlanders simply passed through on their way between the Lower Crossing at Echo and the next water source on Butter Creek another couple miles farther west.

Roger Blair, one of the original founders of the Oregon-California Trail Association, noticed on separate visit to the wagon ruts here that they were disappearing quickly beneath the agricultural landscape of Umatilla County.  The ruts existing today represent only about half of what he earlier noted.  Blair then helped convince the government to move to protect the mile of ruts that still remained.

on the path

The site is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.  There is a small parking area with a covered site featuring several explanatory tablets.  A paved half mile trail takes off to the ruts northeast of the parking area.  The trail is flat running through desert landscape familiar to the pioneers of the 19^th century.  About halfway along is a small sink full of cattails and Russian olives.  Early in the morning or late in the day, you will probably note wildlife attracted to the water.

A faint trail takes off to the right just past the sink to head up to a small knoll where a tablet describes farming practices in the region.  I noticed the tablet atop the hill but not knowing there was a trail, I missed it along the way with Ollie, my Corgi, pushing the pace to see the ruts.

The actual wagon path has sunken down into the deep sands found here.  One can walk in either direction from the end of the paved path along the old Trail.  Going right – east – takes you along the main part of the preserved ruts.  This was an easy part of the Trail for the Overlanders, especially after coming across the Blue Mountains.

CONSIDERATIONS

When setting out for either Corral Springs or Echo Meadows weather must be taken into consideration.  Remember, this area is still desert like when the 19^th century pioneers crossed through.  There is no shade along the path.  Summer heat reaches triple digits – Fahrenheit.  A cloudy day or shoulder season can make for a more pleasant visit.  Most of the emigrants crossed thorough here late in September to October, dry and warm, but the extreme heats probably traded for their experiences in Idaho.  Rattlesnakes could be a concern along the path going up to the Echo Meadows knoll or walking along the ruts at either site.