Ezra Meeker and the Oregon Trail #547: Edmund Seymour Papers

Published November 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM MST

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Map of the Oregon Trail. Box 6, Edmund Seymour papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Ezra Meeker standing with his dog Jim in front of his reconstructed “prairie schooner” and ox team, 1907. Box 6, Edmund Seymour papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Ezra Meeker standing with President Theodore Roosevelt in front of his reconstructed “prairie schooner” and ox team in Washington D.C, November 29, 1907. Box 6, Edmund Seymour papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Ezra Meeker standing with a monument to the Oregon Trail, erected at Emigrant Springs in the Blue Mountains or Oregon, 1926. Box 6, Edmund Seymour papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Ezra Meeker first made the journey along the Oregon Trail in 1852. He traveled from Eddyville, Iowa to Portland, Oregon determined to make a better life for himself and his young family. The trip was made in a canvas covered freight wagon, known as a prairie schooner.

Meeker found success as a hops farmer and eventually became mayor of Puyallup, Washington. But his true passion was making sure the Oregon Trail was not forgotten. In 1906 he began preparing to recreate a trip down the trail. He wanted to raise public awareness of his plan to memorialize the trail by erecting granite markers along the way.

Meeker reconstructed a prairie schooner pulled by an ox team, and at age 71 set off for Eddyville. He made frequent stops, giving lectures and selling books and postcards. Newspapers reported on his progress. Meeker eventually made the decision to continue his journey to Washington D.C., where he met with President Theodore Roosevelt.

See the Edmund Seymour papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.