Category Archives: Photos

On the Trail: Farewell Bend, Huntington, Oregon

On the Trail, Photos

America is full of history and the Oregon Trail is one large part of that history. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be highlighting a site, park or visitor center dedicated to helping us learn more about the Oregon Trail.

Farewell Bend Park

Farewell Bend Scenery

23751 U.S. 30 Business, Huntington, OR 97907

A friend, fellow blogger and great photographer, of my husband Douglas, Mike McBride was driving across America this summer and posted these shots along the Oregon Trail. You can find more scenic photographs by Mike using the links below. Just one of the many scenes along the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail.

Farewell Bend and the Oregon Trail

After following the Snake River for 330 miles, Oregon Trail pioneers rested above the bend in the river here, then bid farewell to the Snake River and continued their trek. Look for a small iron cross, visible from U.S. 30, that marks the location where the Snake River Shoshone Indians battled with pioneer travelers in 1860.  Restored covered wagons rest at the park entrance and next to the Oregon Trail kiosk.  You can also visit the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on Flagstaff Hill just east of Baker City, no more than an hour’s drive away.

Farewell Bend State Recreation Area web site

Previously on On the Trail:

Photos: Animated GIFs from Literacy Day Event at California African-American Museum

Events, Photos

Rosanne was out of town at another event, but co-author, Dawn Comer Jefferson and her daughter, Natalie (the model from the cover of “The Promise“) attended the Literacy Day Event at the California African-American Museum on Saturday. They sold and signed copies of “The Promise” and shared the story of the book in 2 readings from the book.

Here are some animated scenes from the days events.





See the complete album of photos on Flickr

Photos: Literacy Day Event at California African-American Museum

Events, Photos

Rosanne was out of town at another event, but co-author, Dawn Comer Jefferson and her daughter, Natalie (the model from the cover of “The Promise“) attended the Literacy Day Event at the California African-American Museum on Saturday. They sold and signed copies of “The Promise” and shared the story of the book in 2 readings from the book.

These photos give an overview of their day at the event, including photos of the attendees and fellow, local authors who attended. A few photos are included below along with a complete slide show of all the photos from the event. Click for larger images. 

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(L-R) Natalie Jefferson, and local authors, Dawn Comer Jefferson, Valerie Wicks,  Yasmeen Z Christian and Valerie Woods

LIteracy Day event at California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA - 035LIteracy Day event at California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA - 026LIteracy Day event at California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA - 055

LIteracy Day event at California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA - 088

See the complete album of photos on Flickr

“The Promise” Presentation to Carpenter Avenue Elementary – March 21, 2014

Events, Photos, Schools, Speaking

Dawn Comer Jefferson and Dr. Rosanne Welch present on their book, "The Promise" - 11

Dawn Comer Jefferson (L) and Dr. Rosanne Welch (R) present on their book, The Promise

On Friday March 21st my co-author, Dawn Comer Jefferson and I had the pleasure of making a presentation on “Slavery and the Oregon Trail” based on our book The Promise to the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades of Carpenter Avenue Elementary School as the guests of the non-profit Parents For Carpenter.

We discussed the origins of slavery in the Americas, the hardships of surviving the Oregon Trail (collecting buffalo chips was a topic of great interest as was the repetitive diet of bacon, beans, biscuits and coffee), and the patently unfair laws that kept enslaved African-Americans from learning to read and write and from testifying in court cases.

The question and answer sessions highlighted the success of teaching critical thinking to elementary students. Children asked about what happened when someone died on the trail, why no one listened to the Quakers who believed all men and women were created equal even before the laws guaranteed that point and one boy even made the connection between Jackie Robinson’s having been called a trailblazer and our fictionalized family taking the Oregon Trail as original trailblazers.

Print Edition | Kindle Edition

We even found that some teachers and parents on hand for the presentation were never taught that Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence (which listed crimes committed by the King that allowed us to sever our obligations as subjects) included the fact that the King condoned slavery and that during debate this was excised from the document or the Southern representatives would not sign.

These are things I take for granted from teaching American History every semester, but was happy to reiterate for this younger – and very eager to learn – audience. It is always gratifying to know that these presentations are engaging, entertaining and informative to both the children and the adults in attendance. In fact, one grandmother on hand bought 10 copies to take back to her classroom in Pennsylvania!

Watch a slide show all of the photos from this presentation