Historic Hood River
Pioneer Woman’s Grave Marker
2-1-2024
Notes
In 1949 Alva Day visited the grave of an unknown woman who perished on the Oregon Trail near the intersection of Highway 35 and 26. The grave site is one of many along the trail that remind us of the hardships endured by those who decided to walk across the continent seeking a better future.
Tom Kloster has a thought provoking article about this grave site on his Wyeast Blog. You’ll learn all sorts of things about this site, like the fact it was rediscovered during the 1924 construction of the Mt. Hood Loop Highway. It’s worth taking a few minutes to read. I’ve never given the site more than a casual consideration before, but now I see it in a different light.
Jeffrey Bryant
In 1852, the Liberty Vaughan family came to Oregon from Illinois on the Oregon Trail. Near the John Day river their daughter, Amanda Vaughan, died and was buried in an unknown grave. Liberty’s oldest son, Andrew Vaughan, came to Oregon in 1846. He went to meet his family when they arrived in Oregon, and died
near the Deschutes river of mountain fever. He also is buried in an unmarked grave.