The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1905-07-18

I
/ up cried Ezra Meeker. pioneer, his
torian and good old fashioned citizen,
as be touched h.s od OK with a switch
/ and turned the team into one Of the
| gates of the Lewis and clark exposi-
/ ton. writes the Portland tOreJ CORE
| spondent Of the Boston Herald. Mr.
/ Meeker is on bis way back east. but
/ be scOrns the Pullman; he proposes 10
! travel the entire distance TO Iowa
along the old Ok wagon trail over
/ which be came 10 the oregon country
/ any y.three years ago.
Ills OUTFIT is as nearly as possible an
/ exact reproduction OF the one Ia which
/ be sud his young bride made the trip
across the plains IN 1852 There is
prairie schooner" tar bucket aud all,
! and dog running underneath the rear
axle which probably is a direct descend
/ ant Of the Iowa dog that trOtted all
! the way to oregon in the pioneer days
/ The oxen, Stub and Twist, are pretty
/ much like Buck and Dandy. Mr.
! Meeksr's 1852 team. though the pio-
/ nesr says they are not quite such q
| good team.
Ezra Meeker j. now seventy-fve
| years old. His wife Of the pioneer
! days IL still living. Meeker Is man
/ Of mark in bis own country. which Is
| the state OF Washington. He lives
! near Tacoma, the metropolis Of Pierce
county. In which county he used TO he
the leading citizen because of his
wealth. lie is going back to Iowa this
summer along the old Oregon trail. not
because he wants TO get back east. but
] because he desires 10 rctrace the trail
and live over again the experiences Of
highly romantic, though strenuous
| and toilful. era IN American history
and because he wants TO write another
| book
Ezra Meckcr today is sturdy old
gentleman, with bu,hy white hair and
a gray beard. lie Is q small man. light
OF build. and he wears overslls and
soft bat. Ills manner i unostenta-
tious. md his courtesy Is OF the old
time kind. lie tells his story mOdestly.
Though Mr.. Meekcr does not say so.
others say that the little old man was
one OF the few white men in ihc early
days who won the Indians confidence,
and that this enabled him TO employ
them In his hop fields to such profit
that when the hop lice pest wiped out
his earnings in the early nineties he
had raised for the export trade hops
that had brought him $4,000. II was
OF the early days that Mr.. Meeller
talked as he sat on cracker box in
his tent
81 was reared IN indianapolis and
was married there In ISL" he sad
shortly after our marriage my wife
and | started west in search Of land
We spent the winter at Eddyyillc. Ia,
and the winter was so cold that we de-
cided TO move to Oregon, so we started
In the spring of 1852 with the same
sort Of an outfit as have with me
now. We reached Portland in the fall
and spent the winter there, and In the
4, spring we moved on 20 Pierce county.
2 Wash, whore have lived ever since.
| guess that's about ALL"
And yet Ezra Mecker has written a
big book Of more than 500 pages which
he calls Pioneer "Reminiscences OF
u
The book contains a host of incidents
which portray vividly the life OF the
! time, and the mention Of II recalled
one OF them 10 the author as he sat In
, his pioneer camp amid the splcndors
, Of 1905 and the exposition.
81 saw I'm a paper awhile ago" he
said. that the number of people who
passed over the Oregon trail ia 1852
and 1858 was $500 Now. you know.
that can't be true. The estimate is far
too low. The trail was blocked a good
part OF the way with outfits, and the
: suffering was awful. but there must
have been at least $4,000 who got
through.
; You know cholera broke out
among the emlgrants, and there were
hundreds who died from II. At one
place we counted ffty-one graves. all
made within week our party
escaped the cholera ana got through
without losing an animal or piece OF
baggage.
Il remember how glad we were
when we got 70 The Dallcs Of the Co
lumbia, for we thought that then our
troubles were ended. We piled all our
baggage on TO big fatboat, and there
was hardly any room for passengers.
but we sat around on the baggage and
were happy. one day AS we were %
Ing through a gorge with the noun
tains rising high On both sides some
one started singing softly Home.
Sweet Home Others took M the
song, and we all sang one verse. Then
we started the second, but at the close
Of the second line every one stopped
suddenly and we all cried like babies,
every one Of us"
Mr.. Meeker expects to continue his
Journey some time this month and
thinks he can reach Omaha before cold
weather strikes him. lie has with him
hired man, who takes care of the
oxen, and a photographer TO take plc-