The Free Emigrant Road Over the Willamette Pass
By Steve Lent, Museum Historian
Early travelers on the Oregon Trail faced many hardships on their journey west to Oregon. One of the biggest obstacles was the Cascade Mountains. The earliest travelers found a break in the Mountains at the Columbia River Gorge but were faced with a perilous journey down the river in makeshift rafts. Later the Barrow Road was established as a route south of Mt. Hood but it was an extremely difficult route with many perils.
The Meek Wagon train of 1845 attempted to bypass these perilous routes by taking a “Cut Off” through the interior of the Oregon Territory. They faced extreme hardships and death and were forced to travel north to The Dalles Mission. Once pioneers reached the Willamette Valley they became convinced that there must be a better route to the Valley than through the Gorge or on the Barrow Road.
Residents of the Upper Willamette petitioned for funds to support a more thorough search for an alternative route. A viewing party was commissioned to look for a route. William Macy and John Diamond found a pass which became known as Willamette Pass. Under Macy’s leadership a party of seven left the Willamette Valley to view the new pass and continued over an old Indian trail to the Deschutes River and on eastward.
After their return they reported that a road over the Cascades could be built for $3000. They believe that wagons could follow the old Meek Route to the Cascades. Early in March 1853 a contract was let to Dr. Robert Alexander to build a road as far as the Deschutes. He failed to complete the work and an emergency crew attempted to complete the road work. Elijah Elliott was persuaded to travel to the Oregon Trail and convince others to follow him on the new trail to the Cascades and told them that a Free Emigrant Road was being built over the Cascades. They followed the route of the Meek Train and diverted to the Deschutes River. They eventually found the roughly constructed road across the Cascades near present LaPine. The road was mostly impassable as only rough work had been done. The party had to be rescued as they abandoned their wagons.
The road was improved early in 1854 and made passable. William Macy led a group of wagons on the route in 1854 and made the journey to the Upper Willamette with no major problems. The Free Emigrant Road now proved to be a successful route. The route was later changed as the Central Oregon Military Wagon Road was built in 1864. It utilized a pass further south than the Free Emigrant Road and angled eastward to Jordan Valley, Oregon.