Monthly Archives: February 2025
My grandnephew, Jake Harman is a crazy guy, and as his wife, Melanie Harman says, he’s a “big old goofball.” Anyone who knows Jake will tell you that is the perfect description for Jake. Melanie says she absolutely loves his sense of humor, and I can say that I totally agree. Jake is incredibly funny, and he doesn’t cringe at things that might make most people feel totally embarrassed. Recently he and his bonus daughter, Alice Green decided that they needed to have a facial, so they did (or maybe it was a filter, haha), and they made sure to document the event so that everyone got to see it. Did it look crazy? Absolutely!! Did that stop Jake? Nope!! He did it for his oldest girl, and they had a great time!! Melanie tells me that all the “ornery” Jake has packed inside just makes him who he is, and while his “ornery” isn’t about being mean, but its rather about How many tricks he has packed inside him. Jake is always pulling something. Nobody is immune to his trickery. He loves to tease everyone, and 
if Jake picks on you, you know that you are one of his favorites.
Jake loves to wrestle with all his kids, Alice, as well as Izabella “Belle” Harman and Jaxx Harman. The kids always try to win against their dad, but it doesn’t usually happen, unless he goes easy on them…don’t tell them. It’s a secret. Truly though, Jake is a great dad to the kids, and a great husband to Melanie. She tells me that over the years they have been together, he has “definitely helped make me into who I am today, and I thank God for him every day. All three of these babies love the heck out of him and get sooo excited when they see him after being away for a certain amount of time.” Jake and Melanie are two pieces of the puzzle of life, and they totally “work” together. Melanie tells me that “His sweetness goes above and beyond.” Jake is one of the most energetic people you will ever know, just ask anyone who knows him. He is always on the “go, go, go!!” I don’t know where he gets all that energy. It makes most people tired, just watching.
Jake always has some project that he is working on, but recently, he purchased his dream Chevy Camero and now, he has taken that on as a new 
project to get it fully restored. Taking on the restoration of a car is no easy project, but it is very fulfilling, and I am really excited for Jake as he starts this new venture. I know that when he gets it done, it will be an amazing car!! When he gets it done, I will have to tell that story, but that will be a different birthday story.
Melanie says that “As with any family, there are occasional fights and challenges, but what family doesn’t haha!! We love Jake so very much and can’t wait for so much longer together!!” The most important part of any family dynamic is not the occasional fights, but the way you work through them that counts. Today is Jake’s birthday. Happy birthday Jake!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Paris has long been known as the “City of Love” and is visited by many couples. I’m sure it is the Eiffel Tower that stands out for so many, and it is beautiful, but there are many other sights to see as well. Paris is, after all, one of the top honeymoon destinations. I can’t say it is any more romantic than any other city, but then I have never been there, so I would not really be the best person to say. Paris is not only dubbed the City of Love but also the art capital of the world. One of the most famous artistic styles that flourished in the city is, you guessed it, Romanticism. I can see where art would be a big deal there. Some of the landscapes and cityscapes are stunning. Paris was a city of many things. One of the many forms of love that came out of Paris was the Love Lock Bridge. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t totally a great idea.
It seems that as the many honeymooners and couples in love wanted to leave a lasting expression of their love. The arches of the Pont de Arts bridge, located in the heart of Paris have carried couples across the Seine since the early 1800s. Its original design included trees, floral beds, benches and other park-like amenities. Unfortunately, the original design was altered, due to boat collisions and two world wars. Even though the bridge didn’t take the couples to a romantic destination, it was still viewed as a romantic place due to its 
stunning views of the Eiffel Tower. The bridge still attracts visitors from around the world. It also attracted romantic gestures, but that is a relatively new tradition.
In 2008, something strange started happening. The visitors began engraving their names on padlocks, attaching the padlocks to the bridge, and throwing the keys into the river. It was a romantic gesture symbolizing never ending love. At first, nothing was done about the practice, because officials thought it was a fad that would quickly die out. It did not die out, and by 2017 there were about 700,000 padlocks secured on the bridge. That was how the bridge got its nickname…Love Lock Bridge.
Even with all those locks on the bridge, the fad continued. In fact, it literally exploded. At one point, it was estimated that there were over a million locks on the bridge. A section of the bridge railing actually collapsed under the weight of the extra load in 2015. A board was placed there as a temporary repair. At the point of the rail collapse, the bridge carried nearly 50 tons above and beyond its intended load capacity due to the weight of the metal locks. Apparently, that was about the weight of twenty elephants. Now the practice became more than just what might be considered an eyesore, they were a cause of concern for public safety. So, with that in mind, the city removed the locks. These days, visitors are still welcome to cross the bridge and take in the views of Paris, but they are no longer allowed to put locks on the bridge to “declare their enduring love.” Still, 
this hasn’t stopped some visitors from trying to add new locks to Pon des Arts bridge. Of course, now the locks are removed as soon as they are spotted. Instead of the locks, visitors are encouraged to take selfies or find less destructive declarations of love. I wonder if they might consider throwing roses into the river or something. I guess no one asked my, but it’s a thought anyway.
The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a devastating pandemic that affected Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages. It was caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis and was primarily spread by infected fleas carried by rodents, but this was not known to the people of the medieval period, as it was only identified in 1894 CE. It was also known as Bubonic Plague. The Black Death wiped out millions of people in Europe between 1347 and 1352. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history. As many as 50 million people lost their lives, which was perhaps 50% of Europe’s 14th century population.
Prior to that 1894 CE, the plague was attributed primarily to supernatural causes – the wrath of God, the work of the devil, the alignment of the planets and, stemming from these, “bad air” or an unbalance of the “humors” of the body which, when in line, kept a person healthy. Basically, there was no cure…just fear. That fear left only one solution…quarantine. In an effort to protect the general population, the cases in Italy, once diagnosed, were sent to a small island in the Venetian lagoon. The island housed a hospital, now abandoned. The decrepit 
complex of buildings has been abandoned for a long time and basically left to rot. In an effort to slow the progression of the Plague, the island once served as a quarantine district during various phases of the Plague and its recurrences. For the victims housed there, unfortunately, quarantine did not slow the Black Death. They were quarantined from the public, but not from each other. Instead, the quarantine patients were kept in large dormitories with others at various stages of the disease. Even those who weren’t infected when they arrived but rather sent there because they had symptoms that worried the doctors, but once there, they had a good chance of being infected too. For many of the 160,000 infected patients who set foot on the island, it became their final destination. The victims were buried in mass graves or cremated after their death, and their ashes were spread on the island where they lie to this day.
After its use as a quarantine station ended, Poveglia opened an isolated mental hospital there in 1922. The hospital went from bad to worse, reportedly torturing its patients. They were also subjected to unnecessary, barbaric procedures like electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy. They were physically restrained, beaten, and sometimes left in a solitary cell for long periods of time. Even after the hospital closed in 1968, the island wasn’t closed down. It remained open to the public until 2014. The bleak reputation of the hospital continued. It was finally decided that it needed to be closed. Of course, it was then rumored to be one of the most haunted places in Europe. I don’t believe in hauntings, but I’m sure that just the knowledge of how many people lost 
their lives there is gruesome ways, made it seem creepy for sure. Despite the reputation, the landowners have continued to try to sell the island for development, or maybe even a tourist destination. No one has taken the bate, because it seems too creepy to try to monetize an island whose soil may be comprised of human bones and ashes.
My niece, Jenny Spethman leads a busy life. Jenny has always been an early riser and loves to watch the sun rise in the mornings. Of course, by definition, in my opinion anyway, that makes her a lover of summer. It’s hard to get out and watch the sunrise in the freezing cold of Winter. Jenny loves her quiet time with the Lord before her family gets up, as the day begins. For Jenny that might mean getting food for all of her fur babies, and maybe her family too. Her kids are getting pretty grown up now, so she doesn’t necessarily have to get them ready for the day or get their meals, but, her daughter, Aleesia doesn’t drive yet, so there is transportation. Her boys, Xander, Zack, and Isaac are out of school and they all drive. Her husband, Steve is usually off to work early too, so then it’s Jenny time. 
Jenny works in the office of a law firm here in Casper. She is the runner…meaning that she takes documents to the courthouse for filing or runs other errands for the people in the office. They really don’t know what they would do without Jenny. Her work saves everyone a lot of steps each day and improves the efficiency of the whole office. The good news for Jenny is that she isn’t just stuck at a desk all day. She really loves the change of duties each day, because her work depends on what is needed for the day. She also covers the reception desk during breaks and lunch for the receptionist. A nice thing is that her mom, Cheryl Masterson works there too, so they get to say “Hi” periodically.
Jenny is such a happy person. Her cheerfulness is a blessing to all those she comes in contact with. Everyone considers her their friend. She loves to entertain, and she is very good at planning events for her family and for holidays. She is so easygoing and loving. She may not “love” Winter, but she will get out with her family and embrace Winter. However, the summertime is where she wants to be. She loves hiking and hanging out with the family in the yard. They always set up a pool in the Summer, and her house is the hangout for all the kids’ friends. In the evenings, the kids and their various friends or partners love hanging out at the Spethman house…even if they have places of their own. That always makes Jenny very happy. Today is Jenny’s birthday. Happy birthday Jenny!! Have a great day!! We love you!
Traveling west in the mid 1800s was not an easy undertaking. It is often filled with hardship and heartache. Traveling westward in those days was not for the faint of heart or the weak in constitution. One family was heading out to Oregon, and things just didn’t go as planned. The Magill family consisted of Caleb and Mary Magill and their six children ranging from the eldest, Benjamin at 15 years, to the youngest, Ada at 3 years.
The trip from Brown County, Kansas to Oregon would be a long one, and it was often fraught with danger, so the family wanted to get an early start. One good thing was that their June 1864 early start put them ahead of some of the troubles that just weeks later lead to the deaths on the trail of Mary Kelly and Martin Ringo. Long-simmering tensions along the trails broke out into sporadic warfare later that summer between emigrants and people of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Kelly and Ringo were victims of those tensions.
Unfortunately, missing out on those tensions didn’t make the trip easier for the Magill family. Late in June 1864, 3-year-old, Ada Magill fell ill with dysentery when they were camped near Fort Laramie. They stayed in camp until Ada’s health improved, and then the family continued along the trail another 100 miles to a spot near present Glenrock, Wyoming, in Converse County. In early July 1864, the family was camped alongside Deer Creek, near present Glenrock, when Ada again became sick, but next morning seemed better, so the family continued on. They had gone only a few miles when Ada became very ill again, so they stopped and camped. That night, July 3, she died, as Caleb told the story years later. Devastated, but under the gun to get to Oregon before winter, they built a coffin for little Ada from the boards of an abandoned wagon. They buried Ada in her 
“Sunday best calico dress,” as the family remembered it later, then, “They heaped stones on the grave to keep wolves and coyotes out and went on toward Oregon,” according to historian and retired schoolteacher Randy Brown.
The Magill family went on to Oregon and settled in Polk County south of Portland in the Willamette Valley. I’m sure the arrival was bittersweet, because they were still grieving. Brown said that most of the information he got on the Magill family came from W W Morrison of Cheyenne, who was a freight conductor on the Union Pacific in the 1940s. Strangely, when Morrison contacted Magill family members still living at that time in Oregon, little information was available on Ada or her passing, and no family letters or diaries mentioning that have survived, so far as is known. The grave is not mentioned in any other emigrant diaries that have turned up. Nevertheless, its location is well documented.
The Oregon Trail route continued be an important trail long after the end of the covered wagon era. A new railroad was built in 1888, that passed close to Ada’s grave but respectfully, did not disturb it. Engineers were surveying for a better road between Glenrock and Casper in 1912, and they found the Magill grave, on a knoll 20 feet north of the old trail and marked with a rough, inscribed headstone. They knew it would end up right in the centerline of the new road. Surveyor L C Bishop, who later would become Wyoming’s state engineer, or chief water officer, decided to move the grave 30 feet north to the edge of the new road. As they dug up the grave, they found under a large stone slab about five feet down, according to Brown, Bishop, and a shovel crew of convicts from the Converse County jail “pieces of the little girl’s skull, a few small bones, some pearl buttons 
and a few cut nails.” It had to be a really hard find, but that is what happened to those old pine box graves in those days. I’m sure they felt awful. Bishop carved a new stone with the same inscription as the original and buried the original about three feet deep in the new grave. I feel like that was a very respectful and honorable thing to do.
While the railroad is no longer used and was removed in the 1980s, Ada Magill’s grave still remains, protected by a sturdy fence, and marked with a plaque placed by the Oregon-California Trails Association. The Ada Magill’s grave lies in sight of the North Platte River.
As Americans, we are all used to the many scandals that can happen with government corruption or just corruption in general. Most of us have heard of Watergate or Whitewater, which are two of the modern-day scandals of our time. Scandals are pretty common really, mostly because greed will always be something we deal with. I just never really considered the scandal that happened in my own back yard…so to speak. I grew up in Casper, Wyoming, and the scandal involved a president, a senator, two oil men, bribery, and a rock (or rather a dome naked after a rock formation) located north of Casper. The rock formation is known as Teapot Rock, and the scandal involved the oil located within that dome…named Teapot Dome.
The Teapot Dome scandal took place in the 1920s, and it involved national security, big oil companies, bribery, and corruption at the highest levels of the government of the United States. Before Watergate, the Teapot Dome scandal was the most serious scandal in the country’s history. It was named for an that rock formation north of Casper, Wyoming, that looked just like a teapot, but they didn’t care about the rock. It was all about money.
The interest in Teapot Dome began decades before the 1920s scandal. The United States government and US Navy officials, while contemplating a new, global presence, began to realize that they needed a fuel supply that was more reliable and more portable than coal. Requiring the battle ships to make stops to reload their coal supply was not feasible. They needed something that worked better, lasted longer, and took up less space. In order to accommodate the need for coal, the Department of the Navy officials, during the Theodore Roosevelt presidency early in the 20th century, resorted to building coal-fueling stations around the world. That would be a huge undertaking.
The United States began to see that they were severely hampered, as other nations began development of petroleum-powered ships. Developing petroleum-powered ships seems like the logical next step, so beginning in 1909, during the Taft administration, Navy administrators decided that they needed to convert the fleet to the more efficient petroleum. Ships would have no need for coaling stations. Once fueled, the petroleum-powered ships had far greater range. Oddly, considering the scandal, the USS Wyoming, which was a battleship initially launched in 1900, became the first ship in the fleet to be converted to oil power in 1909. The ship was later renamed the USS Cheyenne, because the new battleship USS Wyoming was launched in 1910. Soon, more 
ships were converted from coal. With the conversions came the concern about the long-term availability of oil. They didn’t understand at that time, the longevity of oil. They worried about what would happen if oil were to run out? The Navy would be paralyzed!!
As a result of these concerns, Navy administrators asked Congress to set aside federally owned lands in places where known oil deposits most likely existed. The plan was to reserve these “naval petroleum reserves” for any future event that could have resulted from a national emergency. One of the three petroleum reserves set aside was near Salt Creek in northern Natrona County, you guessed it…Teapot Dome. “A dome is a geological formation that traps oil underground between impervious layers of rock, with the upper layer bent upward to form a dome.” Reserving those areas, was like screaming “come and get me” to oilmen. They all wanted the opportunity to drill within these federally owned reserves.
Enter President Warren G Harding, who was elected president in 1920. Harding’s friend, and poker buddy, US Senator Albert Fall, was picked to be Harding’s secretary of Interior. Fall was a rancher and New Mexico’s first US senator. He immediately accepted the cabinet post. It was the beginning of the scandal, because Fall had “ideas” that would be “helpful” to both of them. Within a few weeks, Fall worked quickly to convince President Harding to allow transfer of the naval petroleum reserves from the Navy to the Department of the Interior. His argument was that the department was “better able” to oversee the protection of these areas where oil was not to be produced but kept in case of emergency. That basically put Fall in charge of the oil reserves, to do with as he saw fit.
Fall made secret deals with two prominent oilmen, Edward Doheny and Harry Sinclair. Both men were close friends of Fall. Of course, Fall didn’t just give them access to the reserves. They paid him bribes to authorize them to drill in the three naval petroleum reserves. The law was specific, saying that access was not to be granted unless it was an emergency situation, and no such emergency existed.
Wyoming Governor Leslie Miller, himself an independent oilman became suspicious when he saw trucks with the Sinclair company logo hauling drilling equipment into the Teapot Dome naval petroleum reserve. He asked US Senator John B Kendrick to look into the matter. Kendrick, sensing wrongdoing, turned the question over to a special Senate investigating committee. At about that time, President Harding took a summer trip west, stopping in Wyoming, enjoying Yellowstone and continuing on to Alaska and, eventually, to San Francisco. While in San Francisco, the President died suddenly. While no one would want to say his death was a good thing, but it’s quite likely that Harding escaped impeachment for his role in Teapot Dome. Of course, there wasn’t exactly proof that he knew anything about the situation, not evidence that he took bribes. Still, there is no proof he didn’t either.
Fall was convicted and sent to federal prison, the first Cabinet-level officer in American history to go to jail for 
crimes committed while serving in office. Both Sinclair and Doheny were exonerated of the main charge…giving bribes to Fall. As a newspaper reporter observed when the two wealthy oilmen were found not guilty, “You can’t convict a million dollars.” Sinclair was sentenced to a 9-month prison term not for bribery but for contempt of Congress, and for charges connected to his hiring of detectives to trail members of the jury in the original bribery trial
In federal court in Wyoming the federal government filed a lawsuit to cancel the illegally obtained leases of Teapot Dome oil reserves. US District Judge T Blake Kennedy ruled against the government, but the US Supreme Court overturned the Kennedy decision, and the leases were canceled.
Before Dave Chase was my nephew, he was my aunt, Sandy Pattan’s boss at the BLM. They got along very well, and when Aunt Sandy informed Dave that the girl he was dating and planning to marry, Toni Chase was her grandniece, he couldn’t believe it. At first it presented a problem, because he was not allowed to be boss over his aunt. His dilemma was if he was going to have to ask Toni to marry him and move with him or ask Aunt Sandy to transfer, because of this rule at work. Aunt Sandy solved the whole problem when she came into his office and told him she was going to retire. It was a win-win situation, because she was ready to retire, and he was ready to get married. He tried not to show his excitement, but when Aunt Sandy left his office, his first call was to Toni, telling her they could get married and not move. He tried not to seem too excited when Aunt Sandy told him she was retiring, but the reality was…he was very excited, because he got to marry the girl of his dreams. Plus, he and Aunt Sandy could still be in touch, and that has been very sweet for both of them.
That all happened in 2012, and now, Dave and Toni have been married over twelve years now. Dave wanted to do something special for their tenth anniversary, but some of the Covid restrictions delayed his plan. Nevertheless, in September 2024, they got to take the trip he had planned…to Portugal. They had an amazing 
time. Dave has always loved to travel. They were married in Hawaii, and they have since traveled to many different places, both in and outside of the United States. Dave is an avid sports fan and loves going places for games. Dave took his annual trip to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Colorado last March. Then as they were coming home, they squeezed in some skiing on the way home. Dave loves all sports, and so he made countless fishing trips, stayed active in basketball, softball, golf (indoor and outdoor), as well as, cribbage, I know different, but sometimes he needs to sit down for something. He also went to Laramie for several football and basketball games. Dave likes to stay busy and connected to the world of sports. It’s the way of a sports fanatic. He and Toni also took trips to Glacier with the kids, James and Manuela, and then to New Mexico with his mom and sister. Thay all had a great time.
Dave is a sweet man, and he has been a wonderful addition to our family over the years. He is always willing to help anyone who needs it, and that has been a great blessing over the years for my sister, Cheryl Masterson, 
who is his mother-in-law. When I first met Dave, I had no idea of his great sense of humor, but before long, as he got to know everyone, he showed that side of himself. He can be very funny, and making people laugh is a wonderful trait for anyone to have. There is often too much seriousness in this world. We could all use a little laughter. Today is Dave’s birthday. Happy birthday Dave!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
I always liked that Grandma Hein’s birthday fell on Groundhog Day. It’s not that I think the groundhog does a very good job of predicting the end of Winter, but the weather man often misses it too, so there is that. Nevertheless, Groundhog Day is a fun day, and a lot of people enjoy the anticipation of it, whether the groundhog is right or wrong. I think Grandma liked having her birthday be on Groundhog Day. It was like an extra celebration to her celebration, and that made it fun, at a time of year when Winter is weighing everyone down.
Grandma was born in 1909, the eldest of two children born to Chester Leary, and his wife at the time, Viola Kirby. When she was ten, her mother left, and Grandma was needed to help around the house. It was a tough time. Her dad was a single dad for much of Grandma and her brother, Kirby’s young lives. He worked on the Northern Pacific Railroad as a yard clerk. It was a time in their lives when everyone had to pitch in. Grandma and her brother had to get things done around the house, 
because their dad worked long hours at work. Those were different times and for them hard times. Many of us would wonder about the kids being home so much of the evening alone, but kids at home doing their chores were much safer then, than they are in this day and age. The two of them knew that they needed to get the house cleaned and supper on the table by the time their dad got home. They weren’t afraid they would get in trouble if they didn’t, but rather because they knew how tired he would be. Grandma spoke so highly of her dad, that I know she felt nothing but love and respect for him.
Grandma grew up working hard for a living, something that she carried on to the years of her marriages and to motherhood. She raised five children and helped on the ranch she and Grandpa Hein owned. She grew a garden 
and canned foods, cooked the meals, and helped with the animals and the rest of the chores. She instilled respect and honor in her children’s lives, and every one of them grew into great men and women. She was blessed with twenty grandchildren, and a number of great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Her family is still growing, and she would be very proud of every one of them. I still miss Grandma very much, and Groundhog Day, reminds me of her. Today is the 116th anniversary of Grandma’s birth. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandma. We love and miss you very much.
My dad, Al Spencer loved the Oregon Trail. When we would take trips, and come across an Oregon Trail marker, we always had to stop and read all about it. My sisters, Cheryl Masterson, Caryl Reed, Alena Stevens, and Allyn Hadlock, and I, practically groaned every time one of those “dreaded” Oregon Trail markers came into view. Dad would call out “hiss-tor-ickle marker” to emphasize the significance of that next marker. Of course, looking back now, those markers weren’t that bad, but at the time…basically our childhood days, history held little significance in our minds. We found it boring and thought of it has “stupid memory work” with all its names and dates…and of course, its endless tests in school. These days I feel differently about history, but I still wouldn’t stop at those markers…sorry Dad. Actually, my dad would have really liked Ezra Meeker, I think. Meeker went west on the Oregon Trail as young pioneer who first traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon in 1852. Fifty years later, still very much infatuated with the Oregon Trail, Meeker would make the trip again and again, repeatedly retracing the trip of his youth, and worked to memorialize the Oregon Trail. So, he’s the guy my sisters and I have to thank for those many boring stops on our vacations over the years, haha!!
Meeker dedicated the last twenty-five years of his life to saving the trail for future generations. This man was 
as serious about the Oregon Trail as my dad. His crusade introduced tens of thousands of people to the history of the trail and the need to preserve it. Meeker, as president of the Washington State Historical Society in 1903, led efforts to record the stories of trail pioneers. In 1905 he published his personal trail story, Pioneer Reminiscences, and drove an ox team to Portland, Oregon for the Lewis and Clark Exposition.
In 1906 – 1908, he traveled from Washington State to Washington DC, following the trail as he went. In DC, he met with President Theodore Roosevelt. As he traveled, Meeker placed markers along the trail, and began the national discussion on the fate of the trail that continues to this day. Meeker returned to the trail campaigning in the Midwest and as far south as Texas in 1910. He exhibited his ox team at the Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915 and made another trek over the trail in 1916 in a Pathfinder automobile. Then, in 1924 Meeker, in the ultimate “trek” flew over the trail in an Army biplane to meet with President Coolidge to urge him to join the trail promotion effort. In 1926 he and others founded the Oregon Trail Memorial Association, which was the predecessor of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA). His last trip over the trail was in a touring car at the age of 96. Next, Meeker converted a Model A Ford, which he planned to use for his 1928 trip, but unfortunately, his health prevented that trip. At the time of Meeker’s death, he was living in Seattle, Washington, where he died of pneumonia on December 3, 1928, just a month short of his 98th birthday. He was buried in Woodbine Cemetery in Puyallup, beside his wife, Eliza Jane. Their gravestone reads, “They came 
this way to win and hold the West.”
Meeker couldn’t stop thinking about and working to preserve the Oregon Trail. It was like the trail was in his blood, and maybe it was. After all, he spent enough time on it. Yes, I think my dad would have liked Ezra Meeker. In 1930 President Hoover issued a proclamation which commended both the heroism of the Oregon Trail pioneers and Meeker “for carrying over into our day the personal memory of this historic epoch.”
