The Oregon Trail

By milkfish, shot with HP Scanjet G3010 at 2008-02-02

By milkfish, shot with HP Scanjet G3010 at 2008-02-02
Here is a nice stamped cover with a couple of blocks of the 3 cent Oregon Territory Centennial issue (Scott 783), lightly hand-cancelled. The cost of the stamps back then is roughly equivalent to $3-4 in 2008 dollars, not an insignificant amount for a collector to spend during the Great Depression for this cover.

This stamp displays the kind of detailed engraving work that I miss in stamp issues of the last fifty years or so. The map shows the path that the Oregon Trail settlers took to arrive at Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, with just a small border on either side to depict the covered wagons they used (the horses on the right hand side appear to be about to step on the southern end of the Trail). The eastern end of the trail is not shown, with its beginning in Missouri and the Great Plains.

Unlike most of my map stamps, the region depicted is one I have in fact visited once, though only briefly on a trip to Seattle a couple of years back. It does look as if Fort Astoria, Oregon, might be worth a personal visit someday.