Emigrants on the old Oregon Trail forded the John Day River near this spot from 1843 to 1863. Thomas Scott established a ferry near here in 1858. Daniel G. Leonard built a bridge near here in 1866. Thousands of settlers passed this way until the completion of the railroad in 1884.

 OTIC Text:
The site of today’s Birnie Park was an important encampment for emigrants preparing for their first ascent into the Blue Mountains. Ceramic monuments at the memorial park describe the emigrants’ experiences along the Trail. An Oregon Trail memorial set by preservationist Ezra Meeker stands at the corner of “B” and Walnut Street.

BIRNIE PARK MARKERS:
On this site many emigrants pulled off the Oregon Trail (present-day B Avenue) for a night of well-earned rest. They often found Indians from the Nez Perce or Cayuse tribes awaiting their arrival; not in ambush, as many feared, but with friendly greetings and an eagerness to trade. “Thousands of horses- many of them curiously spotted feed upon the mountain side. Hundreds of Indians of the Nez Percies tribe, are camped here, & lazily greet us with invitations to swap… The women… laugh and chatter among themselves like just so many gay school girls… The men are all fine specimens of physical development, & have not yet become contaminated with the vices of white men…”
-Harriet Talcott Buckingham September 8, 1851

Many of the Oregon Trail emigrants carried fond memories of this lush valley. By the late 1850’s the good land in the Willamette had been claimed and a reverse migration began. Autumn of 1861 saw a small group of families and single men building cabins in the Mt. Glen area of the valley. The following Spring, Ben and Frances Brown, S.M. Black and William Chaffin staked out claims along the trail. Brown’s cabin stood a few blocks west of here, near the southeast corner of C and Cedar streets. The village that grew around it, first called Brown’s Town, was later renamed La Grande. 

Having endured miles of alkali and sage, the Oregon Trail Pioneers paused at the summit near Ladd Canyon to admire the breathtaking oasis of the Grande Ronde Valley. The trail down the hill was also breathtaking. With chains the emigrants rough-locked the rear wheels of their wagons, then skidded and bounced wide-eyed to the valley floor. “... We came in sight of the Grande Ronde, a beautiful level valley, nearly round, I should think… but O! the getting down to it over a long, steep and stony hill, is equal to any getting downstairs I ever saw, and I have seen some on this road.”
-Parthenia Blank October 5, 1852

The farmers cast appraising eyes at the waving stands of head-high grass and were tempted to linger. But provisions were short, the season was late. Still ahead lay the Blue Mountains and the chance of early snows. Daybreak found the oxen yoked for the grueling climb out of the valley. “It was a terrible struggle for our oxen, but they made it- those noble beasts! When we reached the top exhausted, we encamped in a lovely spot among a grove of pines, with plenty of grass… I am confident that the divine spirit is ever with us in these hours of great trial.”
-Esther Hanna August 13, 1852