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.
The Rescuers
Pleasant Hill. O.T., Nov. 9, 1853
MR. EDITOR: —The immigration on the new road has got safely into the valley. Their stock is all in good condition, in fact better than it generally is for the lateness of the season, on the other route. A good many cattle have been left in the mountains that wandered into the brush from their owners. I have conversed with a great many who came in, and from what they say, Mr. Elliot stands fair with a majority of the immigration. They exculpate him from all blame in coming this way, and say if they had followed his advice they would not have been lost in the desert and would have saved distance, time and much suffering, as some of the Oregonians overruled him and turned them south, when he wished to turn them towards the north, which proved afterwards to be the correct way.
I find the first news we received of their suffering was considerably exaggerated. The news that a band of sheep was on the new road was incorrect.
Yours, c.
W.W. Bristow
A pioneer of 1850, Mahlon H. Harlow over-wintered in Salt Lake City and settled in Lane County shortly after it was established in the fall of 1851. Born in Kentucky, he emigrated from Missouri and was forty years old when he settled on the Forks of the Willamette River, 2 ½ miles from Eugene City. He acquired his farm by trading for 320 acres with an old pistol and a five dollar gold piece! He was married to Frances Tandy Harlow and together they raised eight children. His Oregon Trail diary is part of the collections of the Lane County Historical Society and Museum.
By spring 1852 Mr. Harlow was practicing the carpenter’s trade in Eugene and his home was functioning as Eugene’s first church, the Willamette Forks Baptist Church of Jesus Christ. Lane County’s first county clerk, he was one of two future Masons participating in the rescue of the Elliott Cutoff party, frequently referred to as the “Lost Wagon Train.” Mr. Harlow helped to build the first Lane County Courthouse (1855-56) and became county assessor in 1864. He was a successful farmer and joined the local Masonic Lodge shortly after it was established (1856) and remained a member in good standing for forty years. He is buried in Eugene’s Masonic Cemetery. Harlow Road takes its name from his family.
(Mahlon Hall Harlow is seated in the the front row, second from the left)
William W. Bristow, a pioneer of 1848, joined his father, family patriarch Elijah Bristow, from Illinois at Pleasant Hill. Lane County’s earliest settler, Elijah had arrived two years earlier. The train, which included the Bristow womenfolk, also included 15 children. It swelled the Lane County population to 150!
W.W. Bristow went to California with the Gold Rush in 1849, taught school at the county’s first school (in Pleasant Hill), and became a justice of the peace and postmaster. He also responded to the emergency posed by the Lost Wagon Train emigrants as a rescuer. An early defender the train’s much-maligned guide, Elijah Elliott , he subsequently stayed out of the controversy over the condition of the Free Emigrant Road and its promotion.
When Oregon’s 1857 state constitutional convention met in Salem, William was a delegate. He moved to Eugene in 1865, served as a state senator, engaged in the mercantile business (he held a part interest in Bristow and Company). He married three ladies and helped raise three daughters: Iola, Edith, and Addie. A Mason from the local lodge’s 1856 beginnings, he died in 1874 and is buried in Eugene’s Masonic Cemetery.
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.