OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

Pinus ponderosa
Large oval scars on these ponderosa pines give lasting evidence of the traditional spring camp of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) people. In the early spring, the Nimiipuu would peel the outer bark, using the cambium layer as supplemental food and perhaps as medicine and weaving fibers. These scars were made in the late 1800’s and were probably created using metal implements acquired by trade.

Tree Facts

Age: average approx. 250 years
Dedicated …

Read More

Pyrus communis
Called a Winter Nelis, or Winter Pear, this tree was planted in 1879 by Jesse Edwards, the Quaker founder of Newberg. This property was sold in 1884 to Dr. Henry John Minthorn, uncle and foster father of Herbert Hoover.
When the 11 year old Hoover arrived here from Iowa in 1885 to live with his uncle John Minthorn and family, he joined in the task of making pear butter and …

Read More

Pyrus communis
This small grove of Comice pear trees are the only remaining of an original planting known as Harry & David Bear Creek Orchards Block 1A. Harry & David corporation became internationally renowned in 1932 when they began marketing their gift boxes of pears to the rich and famous. While most pear growers were hurt by the Great Depression, Harry & David brought unexpected prosperity to the economically depressed Rogue …

Read More

Pyrus communis
This pear tree is one of the oldest and largest in Oregon and was planted by the pioneer Munkre family who came over the Oregon Trail in 1846. It is the lone survivor of a large pear orchard later known as Hager Grove and a popular creek side picnic and camping area. Still in good health and bearing fruit, it is so large that it is often mistaken for …

Read More

Sequoia giganteum
James Withycombe served as Oregon’s governor from 1914 until his death in 1919. He was one of only two foreign-born Oregon governors (at the time this marker was installed). Born in Tavistock, England, he came to Oregon with his parents in 1871 at 17 years of age. He purchased a farm two years later and married Isabel Carpenter on June 5, 1875. He planted this redwood on their wedding …

Read More

Picea sitchensis
Half a century before Christopher Columbus sailed to the America’s, a tiny Sitka spruce began its life nourished by a nurse log on the Oregon coast. Today, it is the largest and oldest tree in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area of the Siuslaw National Forest. Nearly 600 years old, it stands over 185 feet tall and has a circumference of 40 feet.
Nearby the tree, indigenous people dwelled at the …

Read More

Thuja plicata
This grove of western red cedars was planted in 1934, the first of hundreds of tree plantings organized by Lockyear in a life dedicated to reforestation.
Lockyear lead Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other youth organizations in making many major tree plantings throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 1973 he founded the non-profit ReTree International to plant trees worldwide and to involve and educate youth about the importance of trees to …

Read More