Oldest Oregon Trails ?? Pre-wagon train

[mdvaden]

Anyone know if there are any "original" foot trails in Oregon that may have been used by American Indians prior to settlement by the wagon train crowd?

Trails that follow the same basic path.

Either that, or very old hiking trails that the settlers broke-in.

Just something that came to mind today.

[scrambler2]

Table Rock Wilderness - a trail ran up the Molalla River, then headed up the ridge to Rooster Rock, up and over Peachuck, then to Bagby, and eventually to the Jeff Park area. Start at the bridge trailhead and you'll be on the old tread. An Indian trail also dropped off the N side of Rooster Rock and over to Table Rock which is still there. Following ridgelines seemed to be common. The trail from the Brietenbush River to Jeff Park follows the old route and I have found artifacts near Bear Point. The Rho Ridge trail in the Clackamas district is another known Indian trail and may have been part of the one I have described. The PCT from Crest Camp to Indian Heaven follows an original route also.

[chameleon]

I've heard that there was a trail up Oneonta when settlers first arrived. I'm sure there was probably something of a trail up Eagle Creek as well. The Oneonta trail, of course has seen a lot of improvements, realignments, etc... I'm sure, but from what I understand, no one knows its origins - just that it was already there by the time people began to settle out here. Don Nelson is something of a guru on trail history for the area - you may want to message him to see if there are any others!
-Zach

[Billc]

I would also like to know the history of our trails. Be it natives, miners, ranchers, CCC, or the Forest service, when were they blazed? Is there any place to go for details? I hear specifices about some trails like the cost of making it back in '35 but no source listed! We need a reasearch library for the woods.
Bill

[CherokeeDriver]

This is a topic that I find very interesting, and I wish there was more historical documentation available. One thing to bear in mind is that the indigenous people of the Northwest Culture Area had very active economies, and trade was the lifeblood of economic activity from Oregon to all the way to what is now Alaska. Most of the local tribal communities could be described as "semi-nomadic," often changing villages twice a year or so based on seasonal resources, but not traveling very far (sometimes a matter of a few miles, as with the summer and winter villages of the Chinook and Clatsop).

Thus, rivers and trails are what facilitated the trade of boats, pelts, tools and weapons, basketry, dentalia (cerimonial shells), and preserved food (dried salmon, wappato roots), long before contact with Americans (the Astorians) and Canadians (the Northwest Co. and Hudson's Bay). A simplified language (Chinook Jargon) evolved to facilitate trade as well, incorporating some European words after contact.

We know where the rivers are, and what the boats were like. But we seem to hear a bit less about the trails that connected the indigenous populations -- and like others, I often wonder when I'm on a path if in fact I'm somehow near a trade route that could be thousands of years old.

And bear in mind, it wasn't like folks back then only went out on a hike merely for sightseeing or fun (although that must have happened). Rivers and trails back then were the equivalent of our Interstate highways and FAA airways -- semi-nomadic microeconomies absolutely depended upon them, particularly in a climate where the acquisition of resources during the warmer seasons meant that a particular tribe or village could survive a harsh winter, when travel became far more restricted (and we hikers know what that's like). Thus, I always think that most native trails had to go somewhere, for some practical purpose -- i.e., reaching other tribal communities who have an excess of goods that you don't have and can obtain, as long as you have a surplus of something to trade in return.

-Robert

[mdvaden]

Geez ...

I just remembered a couple of obvious ones - silly me.

With so much time the past few years hiking the redwoods on some more recent trails, I forgot a couple that I hiked when we first moved down to south Oregon.

One - Collings Mountain Trail in Rogue River National Forest. That's the one that the Bigfoot trap was built next to. But the trail was named after the Collings Brothers who mined up there years ago in the 1850s during the gold rush days of Jacksonville, Oregon.

Then there is a Butte Fork Trail in Red Buttes Wilderness that's at least as old as the old toolshed dating back to maybe 1910, but I suspect that this trail dates back to the late 1800s.

The toolshed below is the better condition building about 100 years old. The collapsed cabin is from the Collings Mountain trail, and may possibly date back to the Collings Brothers, although it could have been built later.

Between Rogue River and Medford, Oregon, are the upper and lower table rock mesas. One site says:

Once a sanctuary for Takelma Indians, today these cliff-edged mesas near Medford are a haven for hiker and endangered wildflowers. Views from the cliffs extend across the Rogue River to the Siskiyou's and the Cascades.

The same site said that "The Nature Conservancy" built the trail up Lower Table Rock, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that there was an old Indian Trail up there already, either nearby - or the Conservancy used part of it. You just can't go up on the cliff side. And it's too prominent of a feature - it's unimagineable that Indians would not have gone up there. It's the kind of place that surveillance would be outstanding. The flat land below nearby was the site of the Rogue Indian Wars.

I'll add one photo - wouldn't you walk your people up there to keep an eye out ??

The hawk image was taken standing above the cliff shown in the other image. Trail is on back side.

[joerunner]

The trail through Ecola park was a regular route for the Satsop Indians. I believe members of the Lewis and Clark party were led along this path.

[Waffle Stomper]

Here is an interesting site. Some of the trails shown make reference to use by the local indians.

http://www.oregonhistorictrailsfund.org ... /index.php

[Aimless]

The biggest problem with finding 'authentic' Native American foot trails is that, just like most people (and animals) Native Americans tended to choose the path of least resistance, the easiest passes over the mountains, or up river valleys, or along ridges.

Not coincidentally, when settlers started to locate wagon roads they thought along similar lines and coopted the older foot trails. Railroads did something similar. Many a paved highway follows a Native American route. And the Forest Service has built many and many a road, too. As anyone who's watched the Forest Service in action can tell you, many miles of foot trails got "upgraded" to roads in the fifties sixties and seventies. Same dynamic applies to FS roads.

The second biggest problem is that, if a native American trail was not obliterated by one of the above forces, and it doesn't coincide with a maintained FS trail, then lack of use for many long years means that the trail has become either faint or lost completely.

Having discouraged you this far, I think there is a NA route mentioned in one of Wm Sullivan's books that ran up from Table Lake southeast of Mt. Jefferson, up over the Table plateau and crossed to the west side through the Cathedral Rocks. I haven't followed it, though.

[mattisnotfrench]

Having discouraged you this far, I think there is a NA route mentioned in one of Wm Sullivan's books that ran up from Table Lake southeast of Mt. Jefferson, up over the Table plateau and crossed to the west side through the Cathedral Rocks. I haven't followed it, though.

God, you just got me giddy thinking about that. That's gotta be a SPECTACULAR trail.