01Biography
Samuel K. Barlow reached The Dalles in the fall of 1845 and found dozens of families waiting for costly boats down the Columbia River. Instead he set out with seven wagons to find a way around the south side of Mount Hood, following a Native trail. Joel Palmer's company joined him, and together they cut and burned a track through the forest until snow stopped them. They left their wagons at a camp they named Fort Deposit and finished the trip on foot and with pack animals.
02Why they matter
Opened a wagon road around Mount Hood, so emigrants could finish the trail by land instead of rafting down the Columbia.
03How they died
With a charter from Oregon's provisional legislature and money from Philip Foster, Barlow hired a crew of 40 men and built the toll road in 1846. When his two-year charter ran out in 1848 he gave it up, having made little money from it. He died at Canemah, near Oregon City, in July 1867.
04Legacy
The Barlow Road charged $5 a wagon and ten cents a head for livestock. Private owners ran it until 1919, when it was given to the State of Oregon. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and wagon ruts can still be seen near Laurel Hill and Barlow Creek.