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It's still a mighty long way from Missouri to the Pacific Coast.
Although the entire route can be flown in just a few hours, in order to get the
full effect, a person should try to make the trip by car at least once during a
lifetime. If you do make the long drive, you'll find it's hard not to
think of the tens of thousands of pioneers who made the journey before you.
These people all had their private lists of reasons for leaving the relative
comfort of their eastern homeland. Certainly, the discovery of gold was a big
draw for many but mainly people came for the same reasons they come today - to take advantage of an opportunity
that would somehow better their lives.
It's pretty much the same story for people moving here today. Of
course, there have been a few pretty dramatic changes since the 1840s. For
one thing, they've paved the trail - a very definite improvement! Also
today, we have some very modern and livable towns and cities spread along the
entire route.
Sad to say, the changes haven't been all good. For one thing,
they've pretty well done away with the government land grants, a real downer for
people who have been planning to stake out their claim to some prime coastal
property. They don't scoop salmon from rivers with pitchforks any more and
some of the forests aren't quite as spectacular as they once were. We've
managed to produce smog in some of the valleys and I imagine the covered wagon
folks would have a rough time dealing with rush hour traffic on the Portland
freeways.
Still, as much as possible in this latest turn of the century, the lure of
Oregon does remain the same. There are still the gently rolling agricultural
valleys reminiscent of "back east". Most of our
population live just minutes from unspoiled lakes and free running streams and
rivers. We still see huge stretches of majestic forests and towering
snow-capped mountains and sprawling ranch country and barren deserts. And
all of this bordered on the west by an ocean shoreline so breathtakingly
beautiful, it seems almost unreal. Best of all, many of our natural
wonders (including our beaches) are protected and forever preserved for public
use.
Of course, there is more to Oregon than a spectacular show of
nature. There's a certain pride that goes along with the name Oregon,
a pride not only in our land and our heritage, but also in the accomplishments
of our modern day pioneers, the independent, free-spirited men and women of
today who live and work and play here. They know, as did the grandparents
from whom they descended, their good fortune in living here - here in this
modern promised land at the end of the Oregon Trail.
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