This presentation is an illustrated progra m on the development of early transportation of Central Oregon. The region was mostly isolated as only a few wagon roads entered into the interior o f Oregon until the 1880s. Most roads were relatively primitive and travel was adventuresome. First were freight and stage lines that challenged frei ghters and stage passengers over rough and sometimes harsh circumstances i n inclement weather. Often Central Oregon would become isolated when weath er made any travel nearly impossible.
\nOne of the largest stage lin es in the United States was established by George "Mac" Cornett that had l inks with most of the communities in the region. Freighters were the life blood of developing communities bringing important supplies needed by pion eer residents.
\nEarly automobile travel did not come to the region until 1905 and often roads made travel very difficult. Gradually the autom obile began to replace the horse and wagons and road systems began to impr ove but it was still a high adventure to travel the isolated back roads of the region.
\nThrough use of old photographs\, the audience will be able to see how early travelers braved the pioneer roads and methods of t ransportation. Over 100 vintage photos help reveal the hardships of early travel in the region.
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Presenter Biography:<
br />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 Societ y on two separate occasions and has been involved with local history. His interest in how local places received their names became a passion of purs uit and he spent over ten years researching three volumes on Central Orego n Place Names\, with the first volume on Crook County published in 2001 an d volume two on Jefferson in 2008 and the final volume on Deschutes County in 2015.
\nSteve also has re-photographed historical photos of Cent ral Oregon from private collections\, museums\, and other sources accumula ting over 5000 historical photos. Additionally\, he presents historical pr ograms to local schools and organizations\, develops\, coordinates and wri tes tour guide books for local historical tours and writes a weekly articl e for the \;Central Oregonian \;and \;Madras Pioneer \;new spapers on Central Oregon Historical Highlights. In 2001 Steve received na tional recognition from the National Association for State and Local Histo ry for his efforts in promoting local history. In 2015 he was honored by t he Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) with a medal for National Histor ical Preservation. He also is a member of the Western Writers of America.< /p>\n
After retirement from the Bureau of Land Management Steve became t he Assistant Director of the Bowman Museum in Prineville in 2002 and serve d as Bowman Museum Historian for 20 years. He retired from the museum in A pril 2022. Current completed projects include publications of the photogra phic history of Prineville\, Madras and Crook County. He has also compiled historical articles he writes for local newspapers into three book volume s\, \;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 B owman Museum. He has a new book that was recently been published titled&nb sp\;Prineville Past and Present \;and is a photo history of early site s in Prineville and contemporary photos showing what is there now.
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