>> scanner view provides a panoramic view of downtown eugene. the overlook is named after the city's center, eugene skinner as we continue our look at this city's unique history. we will hear about it early pioneers. the lane county historical museum started as a pioneer museum. the of the is focused that the founders had. since then we have dropped the pioneer and talk about things up to and including the current day, but always with a perspective on the past. in the american trail story is a little in direct and has to do with boosters.

the way the oregon settlement took place in the willamette 43lley after the trains in 18 and 1844, settlement was north to south. he freefree land -- t land was given out to the north. eugene is at the end of the willamette valley. those that wanted more population wanted a shortcut from this main oregon trail that ended up to the north. it is kind of a mixed bag story, because it is a difficult passage. it winds up bringing more people to lane county, so we were at the very end of the willamette valley. the museum's collection begins in 1951 at the end of the oregon trail, when one of the principal founders of the oregon trail project basically donated his

collection, which became the museum's foundation collection. you are standing in front of the oldest covered wagon in the state of oregon. the wagon came across the south shoulder of note in 1850. hood in 1850. mt. it came with a doctor's family. doctor's family that was six kids. mama was pregnant, and she gave birth on the south shoulder of mount would. -- mt. hood. that wagon was bianca. reached the age of 19, she was married. as a wedding gift, she was given the wagon she was born in the back of.

of the wagon had a tough passage. second of all, they tore them apart once they got here. no lumber here early, was built for whatever shelter you would have. the canvas was also useful. basically you stripped away from the wagon to the running gear and put whatever materials you are building your shelter with on the running gear to move it from point a to point b. lykins did not last. -- wagons did not last. to 1926, sections date the box, that is. >> what i have on display here is part of an exhibit about culture in the 19th century.

with this exhibit, i have taken some small pieces of hair that were kept as mementos that we found through an organization last year. you can see they are braided. this is common to make little mementos and works of art out of family member's hair as a way to keep them close. it turns out these fragments of hair belonged to members of eugene skinner's family. he is seen as the founder of eugene. these were collected by his daughter amelia, who was born in 1850. her mother, mary cook skinner, who married eugene in 1839. mary elizabeth skinner, the oldest daughter, was the first title of the settlor board -- born in what is known as

the north-central willamette valley. we have a piece of hair from leonore, who was the first settler child born in wayne county, born in 1848. -- lane county, born in 1848. these fragments of hair were collected by amelia. mary died in 1860. leonore died in 1862 of a malaria epidemic. there were several malaria epidemics that came through this part of the willamette valley during this time. >> we are going to look at the eugene skinner watch, which is one of the few direct ties we have to the founder of eugene. very veryhas a interesting background to it because of where the scanners came from. -- skinners came from.

they did not arrive in a covered wagon. you can disabuse oneself about this arrival. they went to california first. they were there in the winter of 1845-1846. where did they go? well, they went to sutter's mill, which would later become the site of the discovery of gold. the skinners where a small group -- were a small group. from sutter's mill, they basically used pack trains to c ome up here. johanas the advice of sutter. sutter was notified by the mexican government that relations with the united states were deteriorating and that they wanted americans gone. sutter was a mexican citizen by that time, but the skinner party

was not, so he invited them to leave, and leave they did. after the skinners make their land claim, eugene has surveyed the whole city plan. he shows up at a wedding with a very elaborate watch. it is the late 1850's. with aous photo of him weapon stuck in his canvas tent and the other assorted props was probably made when he was in california during the same visit that he got the watch. he basically brought the watch from john sutter. it then gets commented on as being part of this marriage in eugene. he is showing off his new watch.

the watch is a really interesting piece because it really isn't an american peace at all. it is the association with eugene skinner. john sutter, who was swift and how he own story of got to california, sutter had an interesting watch that apparently had swiss workings, an english case and italian decoration on the face. >> these two very small items once belonged to john whitaker's family. he was the first governor of the state of oregon, 1859 to 1862. this is basically an oregon trail first eight kit. -- first aid kit. this green bottle held small

insults -- held smelling salts. it was a most entirely desiccated. it was a sponge soaked in strong solution, usually a sulfur derivative that you would use to revive if someone had fainted. what is interesting about smelling salts bottles, they were seen as a sign of being a very refined lady. if you fainted a lot, it meant you were very delicate. if you needed a smelling salts bottle with you at all times, it was a sign of being of particularly nice breathing. -- nice breeding. an interesting piece to take with you. land fit item is a with its own case, developed in the 19th century. it is a automatic.

you hit a switch on the side and the blade comes out and makes a tiny cut. bleeding was used for different medical conditions. leaving wasy enough a treatment condoned by the american medical association until 1880. folks use technology like this almost into the 20th century. this particular type of lancet could be used on human patients. we know it was used on the whitaker family's animals as well. this chair is an example of what people would do when they reached the end of the oregon trail. was made by the scott family who came across in 1846. this is a tiny child's chair that was made from the yoke of their wagon. she carried it all the way home with her as she wrote on horseback -- rode on horseback.

is difficult construction for the 19th century. it has its original leather seating, made from bits of rawhide. the reason we have so few oregon trail wagons left is that the pioneers had limited resources. the finished wood that was left over, they turned into pieces of furniture. this example is a rather charming one. this item is a spyglass used on the oregon trail in 1846 by thomas williams. as used when he was head of the party to see if there were any sort of issues i had. -- issues ahead. it is a particularly beautiful example.

you can see it may have taken a tumble or two out of the saddle bags. he definitely had a rather colorful life. you can see it may have taken a decorated rather ornately trunk belonged to the snodgrass family, john columbus snodgrass. they came across the oregon trail in 1882. trunks like this were used to carry the most precious possessions that a woman had, her clothing, jewelry, and in a lot of cases, dishes, find china and silver. -- fine china and silver. the snodgrass family packed these possessions in this particular trunk. it may have been a wedding present because it is elaborately decorated. it saw quite a bit of use during its day. most of our collection