Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-07-14

the Same ROute-His Outfit Is Near
~ Like the One He Had Then-WiII
Take Careful Notes.
Gee, Twist! Come on, Stub. Git
npr' cried Ezra Meeker, pioneer. his
forian and good old fashioned citizen,
as he touched his off OK with a switch
and turned the team into one of the
gates OF the Lewis and Clark exposi-
ton, writes the Portland (Ore) CORE
spondent of the Boston Herald. Mr..
Meeker is on his way back east, but
he scorns the Pullman; he proposes to
travel the entire distance 10 Iowa
along the old OK wagon trail over
which he came to the Oregon country
fifty-three years ago.
His outfit is as nearly as possible an
exact reproduction of the one in which
he and his young bride made the trip
across the plains in 1852. There is
prairie schooner tar bucket and all,
and a dog running underneath the rear
axle which probably is direct descend
ant OF the Iowa dog that trOtted all
the way 10 Oregon IN the pioneer days.
The oxen, Stub and Twist. are pretty
much like Buck and Dandy. Mr..
Meeker's 1852 team, though the piO-
neer says they are not quite such a
good team.
Ezra Meeker is now seventy-five
years old His wife OF the pioneer
days is still living. Meeker is a man
of mark IN his own country, which is
the state of Washington. He lives
near Tacoma, the metropolis OF Pierce
county, in which county he used TO be
the leading citizen because Of his
wealth. He is going back to Iowa this
summer along the old Oregon trail, not
because he wants to get back east, but
because he desires to retrace the trail
and live over again the experiences of
a highly romantic, though strenuous
and toilful. era in American history
and because he wants to write another
book.
Ezra Meeker today is a sturdy old
gentleman. with bushy white hair and
a gray beard. He is q small man, light
OF build and he wears overalls and a
soft hat His manner is unostenta-
t1ous, and his courtesy is of the old
time kind. He tells his story modestly.
Though Mr.. Meeker does not say so.
others say that the little old man was
one of the few white men in the early
days who won the Indians confidence.
and that this abled 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 be
had raised for the export trade hops
that had brought him 100000. 1t was
of the early days that Mr.. Meeker
talked as he sat on a cracker box in
his tent.
Il was reared in Indianapolis and
was married there in 1851" he said.
shortly after our marriage my wife
and / started west in search OF land.
We spent the winter at Eddyville, 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
spring we moved on TO Pierce county.
Wash. where l have lived ever since
] guess that's about all"
And vet Ezra Meeker has written a
big book OF more than 500 pages which
he calls Pioneer "Reminiscences of
Puget Sound-the Tragedy OF Leschi"
The book contains a host of incidents
which portray vividlY the life of the
time, and the mention OF IL recalled
one of them to the author as, he sat in
his pioneer camp amid the splendors
OF 1905 and the exposition.
al saw In a paper awhile ago" he
said. that the number Of people who
passed over the Oregon trail in 1852
and 1853 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 5000 who got
through.
you know a cholera broke out
among the emigrants, and there were
hundreds who died from Ii. At one
place We counted fifty-one graves. all
made within a week. Our party
escaped the cholera and got through
without losing an animal or q piece Of
baggage.
Il remember how glad we were
when we got 10 The Dalles Of the Co
lumbIs, for we thought that then our
IIOuDlSS were ended W q plleO all our
baggage on TO big flatboat, and there
was hardly any room for passengers.
but we sat around on the baggage and
were happy. One day as we were go
ing through gorge with the noun
tains rising high on both sides some
one started singing softly Home,
Sweet Home Others took up the
song. and we all sang one verse. Then
we started the second. but at me close
Of the second line every one stopped
suddenly and we all cried ike 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. He has with him
a hired man, who takes care OF the
oxen. and a photographer TO take pic
lures OF the landmarks, with their
wives to do the cooking. Mr.. Meeker
nd ~ f,sI ro4az -