Oregon Trail Ancestors Day to be Held at Interpretive Center

History Unrecorded is History Lost
BAKER CITY, Oregon – Ever wish you had just one more day to talk to your grandparents? Do you wish you had thought to write down the family stories they told you? If you had it to do over would you do it differently?

 

The theme of Ancestors Day at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on Saturday October 21 is “History Unrecorded Is History Lost."  The goal of the day is to provide the opportunity to learn the right questions to ask and how to record the information gathered when talking to the elders in your family. Historians of the future will thank you.

 

Ancestors Day activities will take place at the Interpretive Center between noon and 4 p.m. Information will be available on the local resources needed to trace family trees. The Baker County Library will provide information on how to do genealogies utilizing the extensive resources that can be accessed through the library.  The Eastern Oregon University History Club will present information on oral histories, providing guidance on the questions that should be asked and ways to record the answers.

 

At 12:30 in the Leo Adler Theater, Susan Badger Doyle of the Oregon/California Trail Association will present “Finding the Oregon Trail In Historical Resources." This presentation outlines how personal diaries of the pioneer era are used to find remaining remnants of the Oregon Trail and what those diaries tell us about life in the mid-1800s. Doyle is an Oregon Trail scholar from Pendleton specializing in nineteenth-century western overland trails. She is the editor of a boxed two volume set entitled, “Journeys to the Land of Gold:  Emigrant Diaries fro the Bozeman Trail”.

 

At 1:45 p.m. Rebecca Hartman, EOU history professor, will moderate a panel discussion with four descendants of Oregon Trail pioneers: Howard Payton of Baker Valley; Beverly Duby of Unity; Dave Densley of Eagle Valley; and Gordon Colton of Baker Valley. After the panel discussion attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the panelists and ask questions on an informal basis.

 

A humorous living history presentation, “Arze Bolder: Back Tracker,” will be presented by Michael Hofferber at 3:30 p.m. in the Leo Adler Theater. Hear the tales of a pioneer who traveled west only to travel east. 

 

Click here for a complete schedule of Ancestors Day events.

 

The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and is located 5 miles east of Baker City on Highway 86. Take Exit 302 from I-84. For more information call (541) 523-1843 or visit our Web site at www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/. The Interpretive Center is operated by the Bureau of Land Management and is a federal fee site.  Admission for adults is $5. Children 15 and under are free.  Federal passes are accepted.

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