Monument Text: From Independence and westport (Kansas City) Missouri, to the Columbia River, Route of the first Oregon Colonists. The trail of trappers and traders as early as 1830. A main road to the gold fields and western military post, the path of the pony express and overland stage, gradually superseded by railroads throughout its course.
Erected May 1915 by the State of Nebraska, County of Thayer, Citizens of Hebron, and Oregon Trail Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
This monument is largely the result of efforts by Ezra Meeker, who came with his family across the Oregon Trail in 1852, and then dedicated his later years to getting citizens interested in marking the Oregon Trail as he felt that the young people at the turn of the last century had no idea of the hardships suffered or where the trail went.