Living the Pioneer Life!

Hi, Kit Morgan here and today I'd like to talk a little about living the pioneer life. As Oregon is my home base, there are lots of opportunities to learn about the Oregon Trail and the pioneers. I'm house sitting at my sister's house for a few days and just down the road is Philip Foster Farm. It was the last stop before weary settlers made the final trek to Oregon City and the end of the Oregon Trail. Next week the farm opens for the season! I'll be sure to take a gander and get some pictures. They're opening a new house this year where Philip Foster's daughter lived.

What a lot of you might not realize, was that growing up, there were times we had to live the pioneer life (albeit for only a few days at a time) and learned in snippets what it must have been like back then.

In our little log cabin in the woods, we had a fireplace and a wood cook stove, the only sources of heat. It was built as a

summer cabin and had no insulation. It was made to stay cool. And it does! I live in the cabin still and have of course updated a few things. But all in all, one still has to chop wood for the stove, haul water up from the creek on occasion when the power goes out (as it so often does in the winter) and numerous other little chores. I'm one of those folks who can honestly say they had to chop and haul wood, feed the livestock and walk a mile to the school bus stop in all kinds of weather. We also often ate trout and steelhead fished out of our creek.

When we were older, our dad got my little sister and me horses. Playing cowboys and Indians was our favorite past time. Hmmm, could that be why I write western romance?

Philip Foster Farm is a reminder of those days growing up with wood heat and cooking on an old cookstove. The farm is a wonderful example of pioneer life. The last stop on the Oregon Trail before weary settlers ventured into Oregon City, it turned into a happy place where folks knew they had basically reached their destination. Today the farm boasts the original farmhouse, barn, some outbuildings and the house Mr. Foster built for his daughter. The farm opens next weekend and I plan to be there! It's always fun to pick the brain of the tour guide dressed in pioneer clothing.

If you'd like more information about the farm, you can visit their farm's website here.

The farm is a real inspiration for me and I like to visit it a few times a year. I'll take lots of pictures when I do and tell you all about how the farm is doing in another blog post! Until then, if you'd like to read a little about the Oregon Trail, you can check out my book, Trail to Clear Creek!

Trail to Clear Creek on Amazon

Until next time, happy reading!

Kit