THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
Oregon Trail emigrants crossed the Rocky Mountains through South Pass in Wyoming. The ascent and descent of the Rockies was so gradual that some emigrants were unaware they had crossed the continental divide. The trail through the forested slopes of the Blue Mountains was a different story. David Maynard, emigrant of 1850, exclaimed "if they don't beat the devil," upon beginning his ascent of the Blues. Most overlanders agreed with P.V. Crawford, emigrant of 1851, who not only found the trail through these mountains "rough .... Much more so than the Rocky mountains," but found that weary oxen also "appreciated the difference...." 
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The hills here are all covered with fine timber. Some of them are awful steep, however. We went up one today and it took twenty-two head of cattle to haul up one wagon, and there was not much in the wagon either. Emigrants will therefore see the necessity of kind and careful treatment of their teams at the outset and indeed through the whole of this long journey, to reserve their strength for these difficult places.
-- Elizabeth Wood, September 9, 1851 

GOOD WATER, GOOD CAMPING
The Oregon Trail offered little respite for weary overlanders, and the route through the Blue Mountains was no exception. Emigrants found water only at the bottom of steep ravines, and livestock were frequently lost as they foraged among the trees. Although the descent to this campsite was extremely arduous, once here the emigrants found an oasis. Many overlanders concurred with George Belshaw's assessment of this site in 1853:
"good water good camping." 
Today we had an excellent camping spot, a very nice situation completely surrounded by tall trees. Right beside us flowed a river abounding in fish and in the shallow parts of the river one could scoop up quantities of crayfish.
-- Honore-Timothy Lempfrit, September 9, 1848 

THE PROMISE OF OREGON'S FUTURE
Oregon Trail emigrants caught their first glimpse of the Blue Mountains from the desolate hills above the Burnt River east of the Grande Ronde Valley: "We could trace their outlines for many miles," wrote John Johnson, emigrant of 1851, and “they appeared to be a beautiful blue." The Blues presented to Maria Parsons
Belshaw, emigrant of 1853: "Such hills as never were viewed by us poor morals before." Many emigrants saw the promise of their future, and Oregon's in these rugged mountains. 
As we ascended the high hills upon leaving this delightful valley, we found that the trees which looked like bushes, were of the very largest and tallest growth. Some of them I was told would make 300 rails, and they would evidently, the best kind of saw logs. -- Elizabeth Wood, September 9, 1851 

THE WORST ROAD YET
Wagons used by Oregon Trail emigrants were ordinary canvas-covered farm wagons. They were not the large Conestoga freighters used in the Santa Fe trade. When fully loaded, these narrow wagons were extremely top-heavy and incapable of negotiating much side slope. Because of this, emigrants approached hills head-on, straight up and then straight down.

The Blue Mountains presented a tremendous challenge to already weary travelers. Edward Evans Parrish, emigrant of 1844, described the route as "the worst road yet." Abigail Jane Scott, emigrant of 1852, described the descent to this campsite as "down the most dangerous looking place we had yet came down." Emigrants employed a variety of methods to control a wagon's steep descent. S.B. Eakins, Jr. used the most common method to descend these mountains in 1866: "we kept our brakes on so that the hind wheels slide all the way." Some emigrants also dragged logs behind their wagons, and on the steepest declines they let the wagons down by ropes tried to tree trunks. 
... we camped near the top of the longest hill we have yet seen. Parts of it are very steep and a smashed wagon lies near the foot of it. ... Preparations are going on to go down the hill. I drove a single yoke of oxen to the buggy and made the descent in good style. No accident occurred to any wagon of the train....
-- John S. Zieber, September 19-20, 1851 

SURPRISE! 
The Oregon Trail often exacted a heavy toll from emigrants: hardship was the common fare. Girls will be girls, however; practical jokes and monkeyshines were not uncommon. 
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A rather amusing occurrence took place today and which also made some fun. It was as follows: James McCoy went off of the road to get some water and got some distance behind and also came in behind six girls who were walking ahead of their train. One of the girls left her company and ran some distance ahead, so far as to exclude her from the sight of the others, and got behind a tree to scare the others as they came up. It the meantime James passed the girls who were behind and came on up to the one behind the tree, and she, hearing his footsteps, supposed it to the others, and no sooner did he get up than she let out upon him, crying "Booh!" but no person ever looked worse beat at their own game that did she. Those she had intended to scare had got in sight to witness the fun by the time it came off.
-- John Tully Kerns, September 3, 1852 

WELL-VERSED
Camp sites along the Oregon Trail were determined by the presence of water, grazing for livestock, or simply the end of a long day's journey. Many emigrant camps were used by native peoples long before the first emigrants trekked westward. Today's Hilgard Junction State Park, still a campground, is no exception, and features prominently in the oral tradition of the local tribes. 
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Indians were camped around this whole area, lots of camps and a big arbor. They had three "criers" or speakers. One man would speak Cayuse, then it would come down to Walla Walla, then Umatilla. Each one of these men would interpret what the other said. Some missionaries were sitting around and one of the Indians was telling them what was being said. The criers were talking about life and their people... and it was similar to the Bible, yet the missionaries knew that these criers couldn't read or speak english. But this man would talk up here and another one down here and this one in between, in Umatilla and Walla Walla... When they got done, one of the missionaries says, "they don't need us here, they're well-versed in the ways of the Bible. But I don't see how they can understand the Bible." So these missionaries went back to Salt Lake City.
-- Marvin "Wish" Patrick, Tribal Elder, May 21, 1992 (sic)

La Grande was the first town permanently settled in Northeastern Oregon. Daniel Chaplin laid out the original ‘Old Town’ in spring of 1862 and Ben Brown built the first house, a log cabin, alongside the Oregon Trail at the corner of B Avenue and Cedar Street. As the prime lands of western Oregon were settled, and then gold was discovered in eastern Oregon, a reverse migration used the Oregon Trail from west to east.

The ‘Old Town’ area grew quickly. James S. McClung noted in his diary on September 22, 1862, ‘we came to Legrande Citty 5 houses 1 store and a Black smith shop... some of the people were living in their tents & waggon beds until they could build houses.’ Just two weeks later Henry Herr wrote, ‘Oct. 9th. Grande Rounde Valley City... This place is composed of 75 log cabins and emegrants with us are taking up claims and commencing to build houses. There are three stores.’ The post office was established in May 1863 under the name of ‘La Grande.’ In 1884, the shape of La Grande changed dramatically when Chaplin donated 105 acres to the new railroad and the commercial center moved from ‘Old Town’ to the tracks.