This sign is located at the Fish Lake Viewpoint off Ore Hwy 126.
Marker Name: Time Traveler
Marker Text: Welcome to historic Fish Lake. Now a quiet and peaceful place, it was once filled with the hustle and bustle of people working and traveling across the Cascades.
Nearby is the Fish Lake Remount Depot which has been in continuous use as a U.S. Forest Service station since 1910. The depot was originally developed as a way station and became the most popular stop on the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Wagon Road, commonly called the Old Santiam Wagon Road.
This road was a pioneering route across the Cascades, becoming a vital link between western and eastern Oregon. Over the years countless footsteps, thousands of hooves, wagon wheels and the churning wheels of early automobiles all shaped the road. In 1905 two cars heading towards Portland bo complete the first trans-continental automobile race traveled the length of the road.
The gate in front of you is a reconstruction of one of the toll gates that travelers passed through. The road company built a hotel, saloon, store, barn, blacksmith shop, and corrals to serve travelers.
To this day the depot is actively used by the Forest Service and includes log buildings from the early 1920s, as well as structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Traces of the wagon road are still visible and a pioneer gravesite remains from the early days of travel on the road.
Please help preserve this historic site.
Visit Instructions:
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