The History of the Heritage Room at the Salem Public Library

The Heritage Room at the Salem Public Library is furnished with unique furniture related directly to Oregon Trail pioneers.

The Black Walnut Trees and Their Journey

During the cold Illinois winter of 1846, the Geer family decided to join relatives in Oregon. In April, 1847, they joined a wagon train guided by Joel Palmer. The wagon train was the first large group (25 wagons) to use the Barlow Trail across the Cascade Mountains. Previous pioneers had rafted down the Columbia River or traveled along its shores. The bed of one wagon of the train contained rooted seedlings which Ralph Cary Geer had lifted from his nursery in Illinois and kept alive in a mixture of soil, straw and sand during the six-month journey across the plains.

Growth In a New Land

He and his wife took up a Donation Land Claim shortly after their arrival in the Waldo Hills of the Willamette Valley on October 17, 1847. First, the nursery stock had to be moved from the wagon bed to good soil. While the trees were becoming established, Ralph and Mary Catherine, his wife, devoted their attention to building their home at the top of the hill above the new nursery.

Their Demise

In the 1962 Columbus Day Storm, two of the trees, now over 100 years old, were severely damaged. Attempts to save them were not successful and in December, 1988, the trees which became the beautiful display cabinets for the Salem Public Library Heritage Room were felled. In February 1989 the wood was sawed into lumber by the historic Yoder mill west of Molalla, Oregon./p>

The Cabinets and Furniture

The cabinets are the creations of Dave Anderson, and his father, Dr. Bob Anderson. Dave Anderson is a master furniture craftsman and shop teacher at North Salem High School. Bob Anderson is a retired orthopedic surgeon. His fine furniture graces First Presbyterian Church, and the YMCA, among other places. He built the desk and cabinets for then President Jerry Hudson’s office at Willamette University. Dave and Bob Anderson brought the lumber to their Salem shop where it was carefully cataloged and dried. It was there they built the magnificent cabinets and furniture as their contribution to the Salem Public Library’s Heritage Room.

The Donation

The Heritage Room and its research computer are the result of the generosity and the foresight of the descendants of two Salem Area families. It honors Max and Martha Gehlhar and Gov. Douglas and Mabel McKay. Daniel Schneider and Allison Hadley, representing the youngest generation in each of those families, cut the ribbon at the opening of the Heritage Room.

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Bibliography:

Statesman Journal newspaper, February 24, 1991, editorial comment by J. Wesley Sullivan

Heritage Room, Salem Public Library flyer, no date indicated.

This article originally appeared on the original Salem Online History site and has not been updated since 2006.