13 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Featured Article By now you are wondering why I have written all the Idaho stuff. I told you this was the long way around, just like the trail itself! Although it is not a part of the main Oregon Trail, there is a cutoff route called Goodale’s Cutoff that goes past Arco, Idaho, along the northern edge of the Snake River Plane. Goodale’s Cutoff goes through the Craters of the Moon National Park as well as US 20, US 26, and US 93. Goodale’s Cutoff left the trail near Fort Hall, crossed the Snake River Plane to the Lost River, and then turned west toward Boise, crossing Camas Prairie. It rejoined the main trail fromDitto Creek to Boise, then ran to the north of the main trail, crossing the Snake River into Oregon at Brownlee’s Ferry. I traveled the route in Idaho for several years going back and forth from home to college in Ontario! In the mid-1950s, ODOT wanted to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Oregon Trail, and some diligent employees from La Grande went on a research and mapping expedition, mostly in their spare time, to accomplish a great feat in locating as much of the Original Oregon Trail as possible so that it could be marked, mapped, and preserved. Part 2 of this article, which will publish in the next issue, will show these ODOT maps, tell a little of their history, and how the public records request process works, so stay tuned for that. I do want to leave you with one last note completing the end of the Oregon Trail, which is ODOT’s Right of Way file No. 00001, the deed to the Barlow Trail, which you can see at right. Thanks for going along with me on this journey, and for all those who help preserve the history of surveying. Mike Fallert is Senior Surveyor at David Evans & Associates, in their Pocatello, Idaho, office. At the time he wrote this article, Mike had spent more than 16 years with the Oregon Department of Transportation, starting as Junior Surveyor/Inspector in the Astoria Construction office, then progressing to Surveyor/ Inspector, Crew Chief, Region 2 Project Surveyor, and leaving the position as Lead Right of Way Surveyor over the Right of Way Engineering group. Mike has an associate of science degree in survey engineering technology from Ontario, Oregon's Treasure Valley Community College. Mike’s diverse background includes growing up farming and ranching in Southern Idaho, several positions with private engineering firms performing boundary surveying, land development, construction surveying, and construction testing and inspection in both Nevada and Idaho. George W. Joseph and Bertha L. Joseph were paid $1 by the state of Oregon for The Mt Hood & Barlow Road between the town of Sandy in Clackamas County, to Government Camp, to Wapinitia, Oregon. The document was signed September 8, 1919 and says: “To have and to hold unto the said State of Oregon, with all its mountains and hills, its forests and vines, its flowers and shrubs, its valleys and dells, its crags and rocks, its gorges and canyons, its glaciers and snow fields, its rivers and streams, its lakes and springs, its animals and birds, its tempests and storms, its lights and shadows, its trails and paths, and the beauties and grandeur of Mount Hood, for the use, benefit and pleasure of all forever.”
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