Elbridge Trask also known as Eldridge Trask (July 15, 1815 – June 23, 1863) was an American

fur trapper Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

and

mountain man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, c ...

. Immortalized by a series of modern historical novels by Don Berry, he is best known as an early white settler along

Tillamook Bay Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi (10 km) long and 2 mi (3 km) wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located just north of Cape Meares in western Tillamook Co ...

on the coast of the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. The

Trask River The Trask River is in northwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous timber-producing area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range west of Portland into Tillamook Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of five rivers—the Tillamo ...

and

Trask Mountain Trask Mountain in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, is the tallest mountain in Yamhill County, Oregon. It is located in the northwest corner of the county. Evidently the mountain was named for Elbridge Trask who settled west of the peak in Tillam ...

along the

Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part ...

are also named after him.

Early life

Elbridge Trask (aka Eldridge Trask) was born on July 15, 1815 in

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

. He was the son of John and Bethiah Trask.Trask Family Stories
/ref>Albright, Carla
"Elbridge Trask (1815-1863)"
''Oregon Encyclopedia'', Portland State University and Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 17 March 2018.

Frontiersman

In 1835, Elbridge Trask joined the employ of the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company of

Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802 – August 31, 1856) was an American inventor and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts who contributed greatly to its ice industry. Due to his inventions, Boston could harvest and ship ice internati ...

. In December he arrived at

Fort Hall Fort Hall was a fort in the western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern Id ...

in present-day

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

and joined his first trapping expedition with experienced mountain men the following December. Much of what is known about this portion of his life comes from the journals of his traveling companion

Osborne Russell Osborne Russell (19 June 1814 – 1 May 1884) was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine. Early life Osborne Russell was born 19 June 1814, in the village of Bowdoinh ...

. In January 1838 he camped at

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...

with

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Ol ...

and spent the next year acquiring a large number of

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

pelts in the

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellow ...

area. In August 1839, he became separated from his party, which waited for him for several days until threat of an attack from the

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

forced his party to return to Fort Hall. The following month he returned to Fort Hall by himself unharmed. On August 22, 1842, while in the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snak ...

valley, he and

joined a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

led by the

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Elijah White Dr. Elijah White (1806–1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government in Oregon Country during the mid-19th century. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of the Methodist Mission in t ...

headed the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...

Marriage and family

While serving as a guide for the

, Elbridge Trask met Hannah Able, a young widow from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

with a baby daughter traveling with the William T. Perry wagon. On arriving at

Willamette Falls The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Northwestern United States by volume, and the seventeenth widest in the wor ...

at present-day

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

, the two were married on October 20, 1842. Elbridge Trask and his wife Hannah set up a homestead in

Clatsop Plains The Clatsop Plains are an area of wetlands and sand dunes between the Northern Oregon Coast Range and Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon in the United States. They stretch from near the mouth of the Columbia River south to the vicinity of Tilla ...

near Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River. In 1852, they left the Clatsop Plains to settle near

south along the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

. They were the first white family to settle in the bay, establishing a homestead along the

, which is named for him.

in the

is also named after him. As conflict between the white colonizers and the natives of the Tillamook region grew, Trask met with the last free leaders of the

Tillamook people The Tillamook are a Native American tribe from coastal Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook language term meaning "people of he villageNekelim (or Nehalem)", sometimes it is given as a Coast Salish term, mea ...

Chief Kilchis Kilchis ( ə́lšəsor ə́lčəsin Tillamook) or ( �eǀtʃəsin IPA) (1806–1866) was one of the last free chiefs of the Tillmook Native Americans. He lived during the 19th century near Tillamook Bay, Oregon. Chief Kilchis and Chief Illga ...

and Chief Illga, to negotiate a peace agreement, but conflicts continued intermittently.

Death

Elbridge Trask died on June 23, 1863 near

Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natur ...

Tillamook County, Oregon Tillamook County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,390. The county seat is Tillamook. The county is named for the Tillamook or Killamook people, a Native American tribe who ...

. He was buried on his own property.

Descendants

Elbridge Trask is further survived by a number of his great-grandchildren, including Jaycee Miller and Leif Schueler. There is a Trask family reunion yearly at the Trask River.

In popular culture

In 1960 Elbridge Trask was popularized in the historical novel ''Trask'' by Don Berry. The novel, as well as its two sequels, are collectively known as the "Trask novels."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trask, Elbridge Mountain men 1815 births 1863 deaths People from Tillamook County, Oregon Oregon pioneers