OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

Pinus ponderosa- Ponderosa pine

When a Japanese balloon bomb exploded at this site, Elsie Mitchell and her Sunday school class of five children, out on an early spring fishing outing, were killed. They were the only World War II casualties to occur on the North American continent as a result of enemy action. Standing as a silent witness to the tragedy, this Ponderosa pine still shows signs of shrapnel damage from …

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Magnolia grandiflora– Southern magnolia

This Southern magnolia was planted in front of the home of Captain John M. and Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” McCall in memory of their daughter, Elsie, who died in 1890. John McCall was a statesman and entrepreneur who opened many businesses including the first bank and local newspaper, The Ashland Daily Tidings. Theresa Applegate McCall, John’s first wife and Elsie’s mother, was a member of the pioneer family …

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Carya ovata- Hickory

Mary Louisa Black planted this shagbark hickory near her home in 1866 from nuts she carried from Missouri on the Oregon Trail in 1865. Of the nuts she planted, two grew into trees. This tree is the lone survivor of the snow, summer heat and Rogue River flooding and the only shagbark hickory in the area.

Tree Facts

Approx. height: 18′

Age: 131 years

Circumference: 4′

Dedicated on: April 6, 1998

Location: One mile …

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Ulmus americana– American elm

In 1912, Belle and Ralph Jenkins purchased what is now the Jenkins Estate, Belle, the daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Capt. J.C. Ainsworth, planted the Elm grove between the original farmhouse and the main house in the style of an old English Estate. American elms were a popular street tree in the early part of the 20th century, but have since been widely devastated due to …

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Pinus ponderosa- Ponderosa Pine

Located adjacent to the route of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail, the Indian Village Grove provides lasting evidence of the spring camp used in this vicinity by the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) people. Large oval scars on the tree trunks were created in the late 1800’s when the Nimiipuu peeled the outer bark of the tree and then skimmed the inner bark with a scraper. The cambium …

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Juniperous occidentalis – Western Juniper

Along this mile-long extant section of the Huntington Wagon Road, four juniper trees bear the ‘blazes’ of early travelers in the late 19th century. Three trees were blazed to mark the direction of the road. Soldiers camped along the road during the 1870s also blazed one juniper with a target for shooting practice. Large caliber bullet holes are still visible in the “Target Tree” today.

Tree Facts

Age: …

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Pyrus communis– Winter Nelis

This Winter Nelis pear tree, planted in 1879, is associated with the boyhood years of President 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 his aunt and cousins in the task of making pear butter. Hoover later wrote that after the ill effects of an almost exclusive pear diet for two …

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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 …

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Salix babylonica– Weeping willow

In 1860, Martha Hanley planted this weeping willow to commemorate the birth of her son. The willow cutting was obtained from the pioneer Luelling Nursery in the Willamette Valley and delivered by Martha’s friend Kit Kearney, an express rider, who stuck it in a potato to keep it from drying out. The tree flourished and the Hanley farmstead eventually became know as “The Willows.”

Tree Facts

Height: 30 ft

Date …

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Pyrus communis

This pear tree is one of the oldest and largest in Oregon. It is the lone survivor of an orchard planted by the Munkre family, later known as Hager’s Grove. Benjamin Franklin Munkre brought his family to Oregon from Missouri in the middle 1800s. The orchard bordered a once popular creekside camping and playground area.

Tree Facts

Approx. height: 65′

Age: Over 150 years

Circumference: 9′

Dedicated on: April 11, 1997

Location: The Hager Pear …

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