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Avard Fairbanks sculpted the Old Oregon Trail medallion in 1924 to commemorate settlers' experiences migrating westward on the overland trails. Over the past century, that medallion has been recast for various sites along the former trail route.

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks sculpted the&nbsp;Old Oregon&nbsp;Trail&nbsp;medallion in 1924&nbsp;while teaching art at the University of Oregon. It depicts the hardships that the artist's ancestors and nearly 500,000 others experienced while traveling westward on the overland trail by covered wagon in the mid-19th century.One 1852 migrant, Ezra Meeker, traveled back eastward along the trail in 1906 to seek the preservation of the Oregon Trail route. His efforts inspired Avard Fairbanks to sculpt a covered wagon drawn by oxen on the trail. In 1923 the Old Oregon Trail Association&nbsp;(OOTA) commissioned Fairbanks to design the organization's logo. That design was then cast as this&nbsp;36-inch bronze medallion.The medallion&nbsp;depicts a man driving the team of&nbsp;oxen that pull the covered wagon over rocky terrain. His wife rides inside the wagon, holding their infant child.&nbsp;Fairbanks placed a pioneer mother and baby inside the wagon at the top and center of the design to commemorate his grandmother. But Fairbanks' depiction of the trail experience was shaped as much by popular culture at the time of its sculpting as by historical reality. In fact, women and children typically walked along beside the wagons to spare their teams, particularly on rough terrain.Fairbanks' depiction of trail life appears to have been influenced by W.H.D. Koerner's famous 1921 illustration&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie. Koerner’s illustration was used as the cover image for Emerson Hough’s popular novel&nbsp;The Covered Wagon.&nbsp;Koerner’s instantly popular illustration portrayed the beautiful young heroine seated on a wagon box with the opening of the wagon cover forming a halo around her face. Koerner’s illustrations inspired the costuming for a silent film adaptation of Hough’s novel, which became the first western “epic” film. In the year before&nbsp;The Covered Wagon&nbsp;movie was released, only fifty identifiable western films had been made; in the year following its release, 150 westerns were made – and the industry maintained that level of production until it was eclipsed by television in the 1950s.&nbsp;Adaptations of Koerner’s covered wagon imagery pervaded the massive advertising for the movie. This gave&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie&nbsp;a significant role in shaping public perceptions of settler women. It also appears to have shaped Avard Fairbanks’ conception of pioneer women in this medallion and in other pioneer monuments that he sculpted over the next 50 years.The OOTA originally planned to use Fairbanks' Fairbanks’ design to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon.&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;medallions were soon cast in bronze for Seaside and Baker City, Oregon. Fairbanks reproduced the scene, renamed&nbsp;The Pioneer Mothers, for installation on the reverse of his 1928&nbsp;Pioneer Mother&nbsp;statue for Vancouver, Washington.Fairbanks' covered wagon design also was selected to print on a series of metal signs marking the Oregon Trail route. The states of Oregon and Idaho both ordered copies of the markers. But these smaller highway&nbsp;signs were not durable enough for highway use, and apparently were never installed.In more recent years, Fairbanks' descendants have recast&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;for Oregon Trail jumping-off point Independence, Missouri, and two locations in Boise, Idaho.&nbsp;The Seaside medallion is installed in the historic Broadway Bridge, near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works.

University of Oregon art professor Avard Fairbanks sculpted this covered wagon scene in 1924. This work was inspired by Ezra Meeker’s journey retracing the Oregon Trail in 1906. Fairbanks’ depiction was influenced by popular culture as much as historical reality. The Seaside medallion is installed in the historic Broadway Bridge, near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works.

Old Oregon Trail medallion (Seaside, Oregon)

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks sculpted the&nbsp;Old Oregon&nbsp;Trail&nbsp;medallion in 1924&nbsp;while teaching art at the University of Oregon. It depicts the hardships that the artist's ancestors and nearly 500,000 others experienced while traveling westward on the overland trail by covered wagon in the mid-19th century.One 1852 migrant, Ezra Meeker, traveled back eastward along the trail in 1906 to seek the preservation of the Oregon Trail route. His efforts inspired Avard Fairbanks to sculpt a covered wagon drawn by oxen on the trail. In 1923 the Old Oregon Trail Association&nbsp;(OOTA) commissioned Fairbanks to design the organization's logo. That design was then cast as this&nbsp;36-inch bronze medallion.The medallion&nbsp;depicts a man driving the team of&nbsp;oxen that pull the covered wagon over rocky terrain. His wife rides inside the wagon, holding their infant child.&nbsp;Fairbanks placed a pioneer mother and baby inside the wagon at the top and center of the design to commemorate his grandmother. But Fairbanks' depiction of the trail experience was shaped as much by popular culture at the time of its sculpting as by historical reality. In fact, women and children typically walked along beside the wagons to spare their teams, particularly on rough terrain.Fairbanks' depiction of trail life appears to have been influenced by W.H.D. Koerner's famous 1921 illustration&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie. Koerner’s illustration was used as the cover image for Emerson Hough’s popular novel&nbsp;The Covered Wagon.&nbsp;Koerner’s instantly popular illustration portrayed the beautiful young heroine seated on a wagon box with the opening of the wagon cover forming a halo around her face. Koerner’s illustrations inspired the costuming for a silent film adaptation of Hough’s novel, which became the first western “epic” film. In the year before&nbsp;The Covered Wagon&nbsp;movie was released, only fifty identifiable western films had been made; in the year following its release, 150 westerns were made – and the industry maintained that level of production until it was eclipsed by television in the 1950s.&nbsp;Adaptations of Koerner’s covered wagon imagery pervaded the massive advertising for the movie. This gave&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie&nbsp;a significant role in shaping public perceptions of settler women. It also appears to have shaped Avard Fairbanks’ conception of pioneer women in this medallion and in other pioneer monuments that he sculpted over the next 50 years.The OOTA originally planned to use Fairbanks' Fairbanks’ design to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon. An&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;medallion was soon cast in bronze and installed in&nbsp;historic Broadway Bridge in Seaside,&nbsp;near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works.A copy of that medallion was placed in this Oregon Trail monument in Baker City's Post Office Square. The OOTA cooperated with the local American Legion post to erect the monument in OOTA founder Walter Meacham's hometown. The medallion was installed in an eleven-ton stone. The words "Old Oregon Trail" were carved on the reverse side. Fairbanks reproduced the scene, renamed&nbsp;The Pioneer Mothers, for installation on the reverse of his 1928&nbsp;Pioneer Mother&nbsp;statue for Vancouver, Washington. Fairbanks' covered wagon design also was selected to print on a series of metal signs marking the Oregon Trail route. The states of Oregon and Idaho both ordered copies of the markers. But these smaller highway&nbsp;signs were not durable enough for highway use, and apparently were never installed.In more recent years, Fairbanks' descendants have recast&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;for Oregon Trail jumping-off point Independence, Missouri, and Boise and Meridian, Idaho.

University of Oregon art professor Avard Fairbanks sculpted this covered wagon scene in 1924. This work was inspired by Ezra Meeker’s journey retracing the Oregon Trail in 1906. Fairbanks’ depiction was influenced by popular culture as much as historical reality.

Old Oregon Trail medallion in Baker City, Oregon. 
Photo by Eugenefbanks Eugenefbanks [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Old Oregon Trail monument (Baker City, Oregon)

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks sculpted the&nbsp;Old Oregon&nbsp;Trail&nbsp;medallion in 1924&nbsp;while teaching art at the University of Oregon. It depicts the hardships that the artist's ancestors and nearly 500,000 others experienced while traveling westward on the overland trail by covered wagon in the mid-19th century.One 1852 migrant, Ezra Meeker, traveled back eastward along the trail in 1906 to seek the preservation of the Oregon Trail route. His efforts inspired Avard Fairbanks to sculpt a covered wagon drawn by oxen on the trail. In 1923 the Old Oregon Trail Association&nbsp;(OOTA) commissioned Fairbanks to design the organization's logo. That design was then cast as this&nbsp;36-inch bronze medallion.The medallion&nbsp;depicts a man driving the team of&nbsp;oxen that pull the covered wagon over rocky terrain. His wife rides inside the wagon, holding their infant child.&nbsp;Fairbanks placed a pioneer mother and baby inside the wagon at the top and center of the design to commemorate his grandmother. But Fairbanks' depiction of the trail experience was shaped as much by popular culture at the time of its sculpting as by historical reality. In fact, women and children typically walked along beside the wagons to spare their teams, particularly on rough terrain.Fairbanks' depiction of trail life appears to have been influenced by W.H.D. Koerner's famous 1921 illustration&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie. Koerner’s illustration was used as the cover image for Emerson Hough’s popular novel&nbsp;The Covered Wagon.&nbsp;Koerner’s instantly popular illustration portrayed the beautiful young heroine seated on a wagon box with the opening of the wagon cover forming a halo around her face. Koerner’s illustrations inspired the costuming for a silent film adaptation of Hough’s novel, which became the first western “epic” film. In the year before&nbsp;The Covered Wagon&nbsp;movie was released, only fifty identifiable western films had been made; in the year following its release, 150 westerns were made – and the industry maintained that level of production until it was eclipsed by television in the 1950s.&nbsp;Adaptations of Koerner’s covered wagon imagery pervaded the massive advertising for the movie. This gave&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie&nbsp;a significant role in shaping public perceptions of settler women. It also appears to have shaped Avard Fairbanks’ conception of pioneer women in this medallion and in other pioneer monuments that he sculpted over the next 50 years.The OOTA originally planned to use Fairbanks' Fairbanks’ design to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon. In 1924&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;medallion was cast in bronze and installed in&nbsp;historic Broadway Bridge in Seaside,&nbsp;near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works. A copy of that medallion was placed in an Oregon Trail monument in OOTA founder Walter Meacham's hometown of Baker City, Oregon. Fairbanks reproduced the scene, renamed&nbsp;The Pioneer Mothers, for installation on the reverse of his 1928&nbsp;Pioneer Mother&nbsp;statue for Vancouver, Washington.Fairbanks' covered wagon design also was selected to print on a series of metal signs marking the Oregon Trail route. The states of Oregon and Idaho both ordered copies of the markers. But these smaller highway&nbsp;signs were not durable enough for highway use, and apparently were never installed.In more recent years, Fairbanks' descendants have recast&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;for various sites along the Oregon Trail&nbsp; route, including jumping-off point Independence, Missouri, and Boise and Meridian, Idaho.&nbsp;This casting of Old Oregon Trail was donated by the artist’s grandson, Jeff
Fairbanks, and his wife Diane, both residents of the Boise area. It was
dedicated April 24, 2002.

This recasting of Avard Fairbanks' 1924 "Old Oregon Trail" medallion was donated by the artist's grandson. It marks the longest visible section of Oregon Trail ruts located in an urban area.

Old Oregon Trail monument

<div>Avard Tennyson Fairbanks sculpted the&nbsp;Old Oregon&nbsp;Trail&nbsp;medallion in 1924&nbsp;while teaching art at the University of Oregon. It depicts the hardships that the artist's ancestors and nearly 500,000 others experienced while traveling westward on the overland trail by covered wagon in the mid-19th century.One 1852 migrant, Ezra Meeker, traveled back eastward along the trail in 1906 to seek the preservation of the Oregon Trail route. His efforts inspired Avard Fairbanks to sculpt a covered wagon drawn by oxen on the trail. In 1923 the Old Oregon Trail Association&nbsp;(OOTA) commissioned Fairbanks to design the organization's logo. That design was then cast as this&nbsp;36-inch bronze medallion.The medallion&nbsp;depicts a man driving the team of&nbsp;oxen that pull the covered wagon over rocky terrain. His wife rides inside the wagon, holding their infant child.&nbsp;Fairbanks placed a pioneer mother and baby inside the wagon at the top and center of the design to commemorate his grandmother. But Fairbanks' depiction of the trail experience was shaped as much by popular culture at the time of its sculpting as by historical reality. In fact, women and children typically walked along beside the wagons to spare their teams, particularly on rough terrain.Fairbanks' depiction of trail life appears to have been influenced by W.H.D. Koerner's famous 1921 illustration&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie. Koerner’s illustration was used as the cover image for Emerson Hough’s popular novel&nbsp;The Covered Wagon.&nbsp;Koerner’s instantly popular illustration portrayed the beautiful young heroine seated on a wagon box with the opening of the wagon cover forming a halo around her face. Koerner’s illustrations inspired the costuming for a silent film adaptation of Hough’s novel, which became the first western “epic” film. In the year before&nbsp;The Covered Wagon&nbsp;movie was released, only fifty identifiable western films had been made; in the year following its release, 150 westerns were made – and the industry maintained that level of production until it was eclipsed by television in the 1950s.&nbsp;Adaptations of Koerner’s covered wagon imagery pervaded the massive advertising for the movie. This gave&nbsp;Madonna of the Prairie&nbsp;a significant role in shaping public perceptions of settler women. It also appears to have shaped Avard Fairbanks’ conception of pioneer women in this medallion and in other pioneer monuments that he sculpted over the next 50 years.The OOTA originally planned to use Fairbanks' Fairbanks’ design to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon. In 1924&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;medallion was cast in bronze and installed in&nbsp;historic Broadway Bridge in Seaside,&nbsp;near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works. A copy of that medallion was placed in an Oregon Trail monument in OOTA founder Walter Meacham's hometown of Baker City, Oregon. Fairbanks reproduced the scene, renamed&nbsp;The Pioneer Mothers, for installation on the reverse of his 1928&nbsp;Pioneer Mother&nbsp;statue for Vancouver, Washington.Fairbanks' covered wagon design also was selected to print on a series of metal signs marking the Oregon Trail route. The states of Oregon and Idaho both ordered copies of the markers. But these smaller highway&nbsp;signs were not durable enough for highway use, and apparently were never installed.In more recent years, Fairbanks' descendants have recast&nbsp;Old Oregon Trail&nbsp;for Oregon Trail jumping-off point Independence, Missouri, and Boise and Meridian, Idaho.&nbsp;This casting of Old Oregon Trail was erected by the artist’s descendants in cooperation with Staples, the Idaho and Northwest chapters of the Oregon-California Trails Association, and E Clampus Vitus, Snake River Outpost No. 1811 of Lucinda J. Saunders Chapter No. 1881. It was dedicated August 5, 2008.</div>

Avard Fairbanks sculpted this Oregon Trail scene in 1924. Originally intended to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon, only two castings were installed in the 1920s. In recent years, his descendants have helped to erect recastings of the work for other locations  along the trail route, including two in the Boise area.

Old Oregon Trail historic marker

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks sculpted the Old Oregon Trail medallion in 1924 while teaching art at the University of Oregon. It depicts the hardships that the artist's ancestors and nearly 500,000 others experienced while traveling westward on the overland trail by covered wagon in the mid-19th century.One 1852 migrant, Ezra Meeker, traveled back eastward along the trail in 1906 to seek the preservation of the Oregon Trail route. His efforts inspired Avard Fairbanks to sculpt a covered wagon drawn by oxen on the trail. In 1923 the Old Oregon Trail Association (OOTA) commissioned Fairbanks to design the organization's logo. That design was then cast as this 36-inch bronze medallion.The medallion depicts a man driving the team of oxen that pull the covered wagon over rocky terrain. His wife rides inside the wagon, holding their infant child. Fairbanks placed a pioneer mother and baby inside the wagon at the top and center of the design to commemorate his grandmother. But Fairbanks' depiction of the trail experience was shaped as much by popular culture at the time of its sculpting as by historical reality. In fact, women and children typically walked along beside the wagons to spare their teams, particularly on rough terrain.Fairbanks' depiction of trail life appears to have been influenced by W.H.D. Koerner's famous 1921 illustration Madonna of the Prairie. Koerner’s illustration was used as the cover image for Emerson Hough’s popular novel The Covered Wagon. Koerner’s instantly popular illustration portrayed the beautiful young heroine seated on a wagon box with the opening of the wagon cover forming a halo around her face. Koerner’s illustrations inspired the costuming for a silent film adaptation of Hough’s novel, which became the first western “epic” film. In the year before The Covered Wagon movie was released, only fifty identifiable western films had been made; in the year following its release, 150 westerns were made – and the industry maintained that level of production until it was eclipsed by television in the 1950s. Adaptations of Koerner’s covered wagon imagery pervaded the massive advertising for the movie. This gave Madonna of the Prairie a significant role in shaping public perceptions of settler women. It also appears to have shaped Avard Fairbanks’ conception of pioneer women in this medallion and in other pioneer monuments that he sculpted over the next 50 years.The OOTA originally planned to use Fairbanks' Fairbanks’ design to mark the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon. An Old Oregon Trail medallion was soon cast in bronze and installed in historic Broadway Bridge in Seaside, near a Fairbanks medallion depicting the Lewis and Clark Salt Works. A copy of that medallion was placed in this Oregon Trail monument in Baker City, Oregon, the hometown of OOTA founder Walter Meacham. Fairbanks also reproduced the scene, renamed The Pioneer Mothers, for installation on the reverse of his 1928 Pioneer Mother statue for Vancouver, Washington.Fairbanks' covered wagon design also was selected to print on a series of metal signs marking the Oregon Trail route. The states of Oregon and Idaho both ordered copies of the markers. But these smaller highway signs were not durable enough for highway use, and apparently were never installed.In more recent years, Fairbanks' descendants have recast Old Oregon Trail for various sites along the Oregon Trail. The artist’s son, David Fairbanks, donated this casting of the medallion to the Independence-based Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA). Two decades later, the OCTA and Jackson County, Missouri, installed the medallion on the lawn of the Historic Truman Courthouse on June 7, 2016. It was placed on the reverse of a stone marker first installed in 1948 marking the starting point of the Oregon Trail. The medallion's dedication ceremony also honored the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

Avard Fairbanks sculpted this covered wagon scene in 1924. Plans to use Fairbanks' image to mark the route of the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Seaside, Oregon, floundered in the 1920s, resulting in only two markers in Oregon. But in the 21st century, Fairbanks' descendants have worked to erect additional castings of the bronze medallion, including this one in the jumping-off point of Independence. The medallion was installed on a stone marker first installed in 1948.

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Old Oregon Trail medallion locations

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