The ‘Oregon Country’ is a silent film presented by Eastman Classroom Films (:11), and was one of a series of educational shorts made by that company for classroom use in the 1920s. It opens with shots of automobiles driving through forests, a waterfall (:34) and leads into the trails to Oregon (:47). Footage is shown of travelers in wagons drawn by oxen on the trail. On a map, a trail is shown beginning in St. Louis through Kansas City, Omaha, and the Missouri River (1:10) and this is the Lewis and Clarke route of 1805. The crossing into the platte is shown (1:52) as men on horseback and driving carriages wade through a river (1:55). In a large group, the travelers are camped for the night (2:25) and then shown attacked by Native Americans (2:38).Carriages traverse through muddy and snowy terrain along the way (2:59). Cattle and sheep were able to graze on the great plains near the Rockies (3:21). Back on the map, the Wyoming oil fields and where to find gold, silver, copper and lead are pointed out (3:49). Also drawn attention to; the Columbia Plateau (4:11), Columbia and Snake Rivers (4:16), Shoshone Hills (4:34) and Arrow Rock Damn (4:42). This damn is shown in film (4:56), with water flowing through and then crop fields (5:02).The map directs viewers to the Blue Mountain Gap (5:18), and picture shows a bridge crossing over it (5:23). The Bitter Root Pass is depicted on the map (5:33) and on film (5:38) as well. A tractor works the dry farming fields (6:16). Both of the routes on the map collide at the Dalles (6:50) and after the lower Columbia River is pictured (6:53). Fish are jumping upstream and a fisherman catches some in the rapids (7:15). A train runs alongside the river (7:38) and the winding Columbia highway follows (7:52). In Hood River County (8:11) mountains ride in the background and a town is settled in the foreground (8:35). The city of Portland is next on the map (9:01) and in footage (9:05). Extravagant floats crammed with flowers ride through the city (9:27). Viewers are then taken to Astoria (9:40) with men fishing ashore using nets (9:59). Astoria had become a canning center for Columbia River salmon (10:17). The Puget Sound area appears on map (11:24) and followed by fruit orchards (11:30). Lumberjacks hack at massive redwoods on the Western slopes of the Cascades (12:50). Then from Tacoma (13:08) to Seattle (13:28), the film concludes on Seattle’s landscapes (13:28).
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