Palisades, Washington | A Forgotten Town in Moses Coulee #PalisadesWashington #MosesCoulee #4k

 

 

Take a drive through Palisades, Washington, a tiny community tucked beneath the towering basalt cliffs of Moses Coulee in Douglas County.

Today, Palisades is a quiet place, but its history includes homesteaders, fruit orchards, a general store, a Great Northern Railway depot, and the Mansfield Branch railroad.

The community began developing in the early 1900s, and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in 1909 helped shift Palisades toward the railroad. At the same time, investors believed Moses Coulee could become an important fruit-growing region, and hundreds of acres were planned for orchards.

The orchard dream eventually faded, and decades later the railroad followed. The last Burlington Northern train traveled through the area in 1985, bringing an end to approximately 76 years of railroad service.

In this video, we'll drive through Palisades and Moses Coulee while looking back at the history of this fascinating little corner of Eastern Washington.

If you enjoy exploring the small towns, forgotten places, railroads and history of Washington State, please consider subscribing. 

#PalisadesWashington #MosesCoulee #WashingtonHistory #4k

Exploring Okanogan’s Old West Museum #Okanogan #WashingtonHistory #LocalHistory #4k

 

 

Step inside the Okanogan County Historical Museum, where the history of north-central Washington fills indoor galleries, an early fire hall and an entire outdoor pioneer village. 

Located in Okanogan, Washington, the museum preserves historic fire engines, horse-drawn equipment, cabins, storefronts, wagons, tools, agricultural artifacts and reminders of everyday life in Okanogan County. 

Okanogan before entering the replica fire hall. From there, we explore the museum’s outdoor Old West town, where weathered buildings and furnished rooms recreate life during the county’s early years. Finally, we head indoors to see photographs, models and displays connected to Indigenous history, river transportation, orchards, mining, timber, ranching and local commerce. 

The Okanogan County Historical Society was organized in 1963, and the main museum opened in 1975. Its collections continue to preserve the stories, objects and ordinary details that connect modern Okanogan County with its past. 

Museum information: https://www.ochsociety.org/museums

If you enjoy exploring Washington’s small towns, museums and forgotten places, please consider subscribing to LookSeeTravel.com for more local history from across the Pacific Northwest. 

 #Okanogan #WashingtonHistory #LocalHistory #4k #easternwashington 

The Donner Party: Crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert #DonnerParty #AmericanHistory #OldWest

 

 

In 1846, the Donner Party crossed the Great Salt Lake Desert on a shortcut they believed would save them valuable time. Instead, the crossing would cost them wagons, cattle, supplies—and precious weeks as winter approached. 

In this video, we travel west across Utah on Interstate 80 through the landscape once crossed by the Donner-Reed Party as they followed the controversial Hastings Cutoff toward California. 

Promoted by Lansford Hastings as a shorter route west, the Hastings Cutoff led the emigrants through the Wasatch Mountains and onto the vast, waterless Great Salt Lake Desert, known today for the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

The crossing proved far more difficult than expected. Cattle weakened and disappeared, wagons became bogged down, possessions were abandoned, and exhausted families struggled toward water near Pilot Peak. 

Today, Interstate 80 crosses this landscape in little more than an hour. In 1846, crossing it took days. 

The Donner Party survived the Great Salt Lake Desert, but the shortcut that was supposed to save them time had instead helped make them dangerously late. 

And ahead of them stood the Sierra Nevada—and the approaching winter of 1846. 

This video combines modern footage of the Great Salt Lake Desert with historical recreations showing how this remarkable landscape may have appeared to the emigrants traveling west nearly 180 years ago. 

▶ Watch my video about the Van Ornum Wagon Train Massacre: https://youtu.be/C7H99StxjTU 

 If you enjoy forgotten history, historic trails, small towns, and stories from the American West, please like, share and subscribe. 

Until next time, keep your wheels rolling. 

#DonnerParty #AmericanHistory #OldWest