Exhibits
Oregon Trail Cutoff Fever
Welcome to our first online exhibit. Click on the tabs below to learn about this harrowing journey "west.” Photos will soon be added.
Masons & The Lost Wagon Train
Hang the Guide!
It was now mid-September. They were running out of food. It was unbearably hot. Water was scarce. The lakes so often seen ahead were mirages. The lakes they did find contained undrinkable brackish water. Years later John McClure, then age 8, would write verse that captures the plight of the beleaguered party on the hot desert:
The people suffering with hunger and thirst Brooded o’er their troubles till their anger burst on the guide who had brought them to this place they resolved to hang him and their grievance efface.
Legend confirms that they came close to hanging the guide, Elijah Elliott. They relented only when Elliott’s wife interceded, pleading that the Elliott family was suffering equally with the rest of the party.
—from Ken Metzler, The Lost Wagon Train: Oregon’s Premier Rescue Mission, Lane County Historical Society, 2006
The Elliott Cutoff
The road is the worst we have found on this side of the Missouri and the worst I ever saw. I think that we have not traveled over one hundred feet of level ground today and the hills are covered with large stones... Mr. Elliott is thought to be about twenty miles ahead and seems to follow as nearly as possible the footsteps of Meeks. The road is said to have been surveyed across the Cascades is the only assurance.
—Journal of Andrew McClure, September 7, 1853
2007 Passport to the Past Winners
Plan your next visit to the Lane County Historical Museum soon! It’s easy!
- We're Open
- Tuesday through Saturday
10 am to 4 pm - Closed Sundays and Mondays
- Affordable Admission
- Adults $3.00
- Seniors $2.00
- Youth (15 - 17) $.75
- Free unlimited admission for Society members!
- We’re easy to find next to the Lane County Fairgrounds
- If you’re heading east on 13th Avenue, you’ll see our building between Monroe and Jefferson on the right. Look for a sign that says, “Museum Entrance”
The address is 740 W. 13th Ave. - Get directions here
- Mailing Address
- Lane County Historical Society
- P.O. Box 5407
Eugene, OR 97405-3819 - Free Parking
- There’s plenty of free parking in the lot east of the Museum at the corner of 13th and Jefferson. Walk through the gates to enter the Fairgrounds. Walk past the white Clerk’s Building on your right and turn right for the Museum entrance.
- Handicapped Access
- The Main Exhibition Hall and Museum Store are accessible.
- Shopping & Food
- Shop at our Museum Store, open during regular hours. Members always receive a discount! There are many restaurants in nearby downtown Eugene. No food or drink is allowed in the Museum.