Today Dad and I set off south to Oregon to connect with family there for the first time. Thanks to a dedicated Oregon State archivist we had been provided much of the missing link between our Chamberlin family in BC and the rest of the Chamberlin family they had left behind in Oregon. A huge amount of gratitude goes to Mom for compiling the information in a visual format and assisting us with wading through the immense amount of information obtained thus far.
Our family were original pioneers of the Oregon Trail fame and had settled around Monmouth with a Donation Land Claim of 640 acres. In the next few days Dad and I will be attempting to discover more of our roots and meet what relatives we may be able to locate. We will be meeting with historians, visiting museums, and searching cemeteries looking for headstones. The most notable of these will be the Chamberlin Cemetery near Monmouth. Unfortunately this first post contains photos completely irrelevant to any family research, but it was a travel day after all...
Our family were original pioneers of the Oregon Trail fame and had settled around Monmouth with a Donation Land Claim of 640 acres. In the next few days Dad and I will be attempting to discover more of our roots and meet what relatives we may be able to locate. We will be meeting with historians, visiting museums, and searching cemeteries looking for headstones. The most notable of these will be the Chamberlin Cemetery near Monmouth. Unfortunately this first post contains photos completely irrelevant to any family research, but it was a travel day after all...
Heading towards the border we were suddenly struck by the hailstorm that had earlier crippled the Fraser Valley. With my expert driving (read: 4 wheel drive) we successfully navigated through Mother Nature's fury...
The border wait time was one hour but we had to duck into the duty free to get some gifts and found that this process automatically queue-jumped us so we were only waiting about 25 minutes. Score!
It was smooth sailing down the I-5 and we caught a glimpse of the Space Needle as we cruised by Seattle. Dad recalls going to the top of the Space Needle as a young man during the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. He remembers making a martian smile out of character...can't imagine Dad doing that...
The sign said it all...we were truly on our way...
Eventually, after hours of subsisting on water and nuts we decided it best to stop for a real meal, so spontaneously exited to see where the winds would blow us. Although there were standard options in front of us my eye was immediately grabbed by a place that seemed guaranteed to provide rustic, home-style meal. Although Dad was unimpressed by having his picture taken...
He was quick to choose adventurous fare...namely the "yak melt". I chose the more traditional method of eating yak...in burger format...
Yak-tastic!
Our arrival in Oregon was marked by the crossing of the Columbia River at Portland. Unfortunately we were unable to get a photo from the freeway while crossing. One interesting visual representation of Portland was their much heralded light transit system...I had heard about it but was very surprised to look over and see this train competing with me at highway speeds...
Well, tomorrow should be a very interesting day. We have breakfast planned with Tracey (the archivist) and Colleen (possible relative) and a visit with John Hefley, who is the current landowner of the original Chamberlin claim. John has also compiled a big binder of information on the Chamberlins. Where exactly does he fit in? Where do we fit in???? Stay tuned...
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