BARLOW ROAD

The 'Barlow Road' was the last overland segment of the Oregon Trail, crossing the Cascade Range before reaching the Willamette Valley. It began near Tygh Valley and ended at Oregon City, Oregon.
It was named for Sam Barlow, who crossed the Cascade Range on approximately this route in 1845 when be brought his family to Oregon. After leaving The Dalles, Barlow's party was accompanied by Joel Palmer, who played an instrumental role in finding a way around Mount Hood and in locating Barlow Pass.^[1]
Barlow opened the road in 1846, with the permission of the Oregon Provisional Government,^[2] as a toll road charging five dollars per wagon and ten cents for every head of livestock. Many emigrants who traveled along the Oregon Trail could not afford to use the Barlow Toll Road, and instead floated down the Columbia River to get to Oregon City. Both methods of passage connected The Dalles to the Willamette Valley.
The road was built with the financial backing of nearby resident Philip Foster and a crew of forty men. Five toll gates were eventually built along the route. The direction of travel was effectively one way until 1861, when a better road around Laurel Hill was built. Despite the expense and difficulties of passage, the road was very popular with more than a thousand immigrants and 145 wagons recorded in the first year of operation.^[3] Approximately three-quarters of the pioneers entering the Willamette Valley traveled the Barlow Road.^[4]
Reportedly, Oregon's first federal judge, Matthew P. Deady said:
The toll ended in 1915 when the right-of-way was willed to Oregon. Much of the road still exists, and ruts from wagon wheels are still visible in several places.
In 1992, the Barlow Road was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District. In 2005, part of it was incorporated into the Mount Hood Scenic Byway.

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See also

References

External link

See also

★ Santiam Wagon Road

References

1. Oregon Geographic Names, , Lewis A., McArthur, Oregon Historical Society Press, 2003, ISBN 0-87595-277-1
2. The Barlow Road, The Final Leg of the Trail

3. The Oregon Trail Jamie Jensen
4. Church History:Clackamas County, Oregon Jamie Jensen

External link

★ Barlow Road, from a National Park Service website