Early Transportation in Central Oregon

Know Migration

A visual presentation of Central Oregon's transition from livestock trails to automobiles.

This presentation is an illustrated program on the development of early transportation of Central Oregon. The region was mostly isolated as only a few wagon roads entered into the interior of Oregon until the 1880s. Most roads were relatively primitive and travel was adventuresome. First were freight and stage lines that challenged freighters and stage passengers over rough and sometimes harsh circumstances in inclement weather. Often Central Oregon would become isolated when weather made any travel nearly impossible.

One of the largest stage lines in the United States was established by George "Mac" Cornett that had links with most of the communities in the region. Freighters were the life blood of developing communities bringing important supplies needed by pioneer residents.

Early automobile travel did not come to the region until 1905 and often roads made travel very difficult. Gradually the automobile began to replace the horse and wagons and road systems began to improve but it was still a high adventure to travel the isolated back roads of the region.

Through use of old photographs, the audience will be able to see how early travelers braved the pioneer roads and methods of transportation. Over 100 vintage photos help reveal the hardships of early travel in the region.

Presenter Biography:
Steve Lent grew up and attended schools in Crook County, Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science degree in history and education in 1972. His early career was in fire management with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Through the years Steve served as president of the Crook County Historical Society on two separate occasions and has been involved with local history. His interest in how local places received their names became a passion of pursuit and he spent over ten years researching three volumes on Central Oregon Place Names, with the first volume on Crook County published in 2001 and volume two on Jefferson in 2008 and the final volume on Deschutes County in 2015.

Steve also has re-photographed historical photos of Central Oregon from private collections, museums, and other sources accumulating over 5000 historical photos. Additionally, he presents historical programs to local schools and organizations, develops, coordinates and writes tour guide books for local historical tours and writes a weekly article for the Central Oregonian and Madras Pioneer newspapers on Central Oregon Historical Highlights. In 2001 Steve received national recognition from the National Association for State and Local History for his efforts in promoting local history. In 2015 he was honored by the Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) with a medal for National Historical Preservation. He also is a member of the Western Writers of America.

After retirement from the Bureau of Land Management Steve became the Assistant Director of the Bowman Museum in Prineville in 2002 and served as Bowman Museum Historian for 20 years. He retired from the museum in April 2022. Current completed projects include publications of the photographic history of Prineville, Madras and Crook County. He has also compiled historical articles he writes for local newspapers into three book volumes, Islands in Time, Pillars in Time, and Monuments in Time. He is the editor of the Crook County Historical Society newsletter and of the annual history journal Crook County Chronicles. Although retired he continues to volunteer as historian on a regular basis at the Bowman Museum. He has a new book that was recently been published titled Prineville Past and Present and is a photo history of early sites in Prineville and contemporary photos showing what is there now.