Ezra Meeker
Ezra Morgan Meeker (December 29, 1830December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to memorialize the Trail, repeatedly retracing the trip of his youth. Once known as the "Hop King of the World", he was the first mayor of Puyallup, Washington.Meeker was born in Butler County, Ohio, to Jacob and Phoebe Meeker. His family relocated to Indiana when he was a boy. He married Eliza Jane Sumner in 1851; the following year the couple, with their newborn son and Ezra's brother, set out for the Oregon Territory, where land could be claimed and settled on. Although they endured hardships on the Trail in the journey of nearly six months, the entire party survived the trek. Meeker and his family briefly stayed near Portland, then journeyed north to live in the Puget Sound region. They settled at what is now Puyallup in 1862, where Meeker grew hops for use in brewing beer. By 1887, his business had made him wealthy, and his wife built a large mansion for the family. In 1891, an infestation of hop aphids destroyed his crops and took much of his fortune. He later tried his hand at a number of ventures, and made four largely unsuccessful trips to the Klondike, taking groceries and hoping to profit from the gold rush.
Meeker became convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, and he became determined to bring it publicity so it could be marked and monuments erected. In 1906–1908, while in his late 70s, he retraced his steps along the Oregon Trail by wagon, seeking to build monuments in communities along the way. His trek reached New York City, and in Washington, D.C., he met President Theodore Roosevelt. He traveled the Trail again several times in the final two decades of his life, including by oxcart in 1910–1912 and by airplane in 1924. During another such trip, in 1928, Meeker fell ill but was succored by Henry Ford. On his return to Washington state, Meeker became ill again and died there on December 3, 1928, at the age of 97. Meeker wrote several books; his work has continued through the activities of such groups as the Oregon-California Trails Association. Provided by Wikipedia
-
Place a HoldVentures and adventures of Ezra Meekeror Sixty years of frontier life; fifty-six years of pioneer life in the old Oregon country; an account of the author's trip across the plains with an ox team in 1852 and his return trip in 1906; his cruise on Puget Sound in 1853 and his trip through Natchess Pass in 1854; over the Chilicoot Pass and flat-boating on the Yukon in 1898 The Oregon trailBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1909 -
Place a Holdby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1993 -
Place a Holdby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1912 -
Place a HoldThe busy life of eighty-five years of Ezra MeekerVentures and adventures sixty-three years of pioneer life in the old Oregon country; an account of the author's trip across the plains with an ox team 1852; return trip 1906-7; his cruise on Puget Sound 1853; trip through the Natchess pass 1854; over the Chilcoot pass; flat-boating on the Yukon 1898 The Oregon trailBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1916 -
Place a HoldPioneer reminiscences of Puget soundthe tragedy of Leschi; an account of the coming of the first Americans and the establishment of their institutions; their encounters with the native race; the first treaties with the Indians and the war that followed; seven years of the life of Isaac I Stevens in Washington territory; cruise of the author on Puget sound fifty years ago; Nisqually house and the Hudson bay companyBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1905 -
Place a HoldThe ox teamor The old Oregon trail 1852-1906; an account of the author's trip across the plains from the Missouri River to Puget Sound at the age of twenty-two with an ox and cow team in 1852 and of his return with an ox team in the year 1906 at the age of seventy-sixBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1907 -
Place a HoldWashington Territory west of the Cascade Mountainscontaining a description of Puget Sound and rivers emptying into it the lower Columbia Shoalwater Bay Gray's Harbor timber lands climate fisheries ship building coal mines market reports trade labor populations wealth and resourcesBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1870 -
Place a HoldThe ox team or The Old Oregon trail 1852-1906an account of the author's trip across the plains from the Missouri river to Puget sound at the age of twenty-two with an ox and cow team in 1852 and of his return with an ox team in the year 1906 at the age of seventy-six a narrative of events and descriptive of present and past conditionsBookby Meeker, Ezra, 1830-1928
Published 1906
