A series of stunning black and white photographs by Rich Bergeman tell the story of how the last great land rush of the American West played out on the Oregon High Desert.
Over 1,000 hopeful homesteaders moved into the Fort Rock/Christmas Lake basin in
response to the last federal homestead act of 1907. Lack of sufficient rainfall to grow dry land wheat doomed most of them, and within twenty years, the population of the area had dropped by 91 percent. In the exodus, scores of empty cabins and abandoned towns were left behind, but there are a few that remain to tell the story of those homesteader’s dreams.
A book of his photographs will be available for purchase in the Oregon Trail Gift Shop, and a special presentation by the artist is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 25.
Over 1,000 hopeful homesteaders moved into the Fort Rock/Christmas Lake basin in
response to the last federal homestead act of 1907. Lack of sufficient rainfall to grow dry land wheat doomed most of them, and within twenty years, the population of the area had dropped by 91 percent. In the exodus, scores of empty cabins and abandoned towns were left behind, but there are a few that remain to tell the story of those homesteader’s dreams.
A book of his photographs will be available for purchase in the Oregon Trail Gift Shop, and a special presentation by the artist is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 25.