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Oregon National Historic TrailWillamette River Falls at Oregon City, Oregon - end of the Oregon Trail
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Oregon National Historic Trail
Flagstaff Hill
Photo image of emigrant wagons at Flagstaff Hill & the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
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Photo image of emigrant wagons at Flagstaff Hill & the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

10. Flagstaff Hill/National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center - Baker City, Oregon

This 23,000 square-foot interpretive center atop Flagstaff Hill overlooks nearly seven miles of well-preserved Oregon Trail ruts that extend across Virtue Flat southeast of Flagstaff Hill. This arid trail segment, where emigrants fought their way through shoulder-tall sagebrush, tested weary emigrants who had endured four or five difficult days ascending Burnt River. In places, several ruts run parallel, suggesting some teams pulled alongside or ahead of others in the push to reach the Powder River.

But travelers were also greeted with their first site of the Promised Land beyond. From atop Flagstaff Hill, the Blue Mountains beckoned in the distance, assuring emigrants that their long journey from the Missouri would soon end in the long awaited Willamette Valley.

The Bureau of Land Management operates the interpretive center. Living history programs, life-sized dioramas, an amphitheater, and an interpretive trail system support the center's theme of describing life along the trail.

National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
22267 Oregon Highway 86
P.O. Box 987
Baker City, Oregon 97814-0987
Tel: 541-523-1843
http://oregontrail.blm.gov


Back to the Suggested Trail Sites to Visit page.

 
Map image showing the location for Flagstaff Hill.
NPS Image
Map image showing the location for Flagstaff Hill.
Devil's Gate on the Sweetwater River in the mountains of south central Wyoming.  

Did You Know?
Emigrants bound for western lands in the 1840-60s followed the Sweetwater River across Wyoming from near Fort Laramie in the southeast to Fort Bridger in the southwest passing by the Devil's Gate, a spectacular cleavage in stone that proved impassable without mountain climbing equipment.
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Last Updated: November 01, 2006 at 15:00 EST