 The bill authorizing the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar was first introduced in the House of Representatives on January 25, 1926 by Washington Congressman John Franklin Miller, who had previously been mayor of Seattle. Meeker was living in Seattle while Miller was mayor, having moved from his previous home in Puyallup. According to local historian Bert Webber in his 1986 monograph on the coin, "there is little doubt that Mr. Miller was influenced to propose this coin by Ezra Meeker." A hearing was held before the House Coinage Committee on March 3; Meeker testified. The bill was reported favorably, and then passed by the full House on April 5, 1926. The bill was not opposed in the House of Representatives, though one member, Michigan Congressman Louis Cramton, asked several questions before it passed by unanimous consent. According to an October 2013 article in The Numismatist, "Congress was no match for Meeker".
