Day 18: Oregon Trail and Sumper

Today, 9 years ago, we celebrated our wedding. It's amazing how time flies. After breakfast, we start our journey and leave the state of Idaho a few kilometers later, and now we're in Oregon. That means we're back in the Pacific Time Zone and we gain an extra hour. Our route takes us through meadows, with stacks of hay, grazing sheep and cattle. On top of a hill is the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It's a museum that tells the stories of the Oregon Trail. In 1841, the first settlers came from the East to the West along the trail. Then, two years later, 900 settlers followed with 120 wagons and 5,000 head of cattle, making their way to the Willamette Valley. Until the construction of the railway, 350,000 settlers, gold prospectors, fur traders, and missionaries would travel this route. About a tenth of them would perish from the hardships of the trek. The museum vividly tells the history of the trail. There are wagons with figures on horses and oxen, as well as native animals and livestock on display. There's a room for children where they have to pack a wagon, but they mustn't exceed the weight limit, otherwise, the oxen won't be able to pull it. We watch a performance with songs and stories from that time. The English is simple and we understand a lot. Unfortunately, I can't translate as quickly for Erik. Then we play Bingo for the Junior Park Ranger badge and leave the museum. We were able to save the $8 admission fee with our annual pass for the national parks. It was well worth it.
The next stop on the route is the Sumper Valley. As fans of the series 'Gold Rush in Alaska', we can't miss the sight of a gold dredge. This floating gold mining machine dug up the valley and a 6 1/2-mile radius around it between 1935 and 1957. It dug through the ground, creating its own path, and dumped the dirt behind it. The resulting waste is now scattered around the area. The dredge is in good condition and can be visited inside and out for free. You can see the marks of time on the wood and metal. There's a path that goes around the dredge, where you can see its impact on the environment, with piles of rocks and sand everywhere. The river's natural flow has been disrupted. Back then, there was no need to restore the natural environment. It was worth it for the investors to get rid of the dredge, which was valued at $350,000. Because of that, they were able to find 125,000 ounces of gold, which were worth $4.5 million at the time, equivalent to $137 million today. That's quite a discovery. Then we visit the town of Sumper, a typical gold rush town. The first gold was found in 1862, and it flourished with the arrival of the railroad in 1896. It was destroyed by a fire in 1917. We see some souvenir shops, bars, and shops, mostly closed. They open the shops for tourists on weekends, and there are guided tours of the dredge and a train ride, including a robbery by a gang of bandits. But we're here during the week, so there's nothing going on. There's wood for sale by the road, $3.50 per bundle. We only have $20 bills, so we have to buy 6 packs, but the price is unbeatable. Otherwise, a pack costs $5 or more.
Now, we drive for another hour. It takes a while for us to leave the forest and get to the prairie. I thought it would be a drier landscape. There are small towns here and there. We drive through Prarie City and John Day, two small towns with a Western look. We choose the Clyde Holliday State Recreation Site as our camping spot for the night. It's a small state park on the John Day River. The place is nice, and we want to grill steaks to celebrate our wedding anniversary. As we prepare, a storm starts brewing. We retreat for a bit, sitting under our awning in the light rain and enjoying our steaks. Afterward, we retreat inside and end the day.