![]() Meeker attributed Twist's death to the possible consumption of some toxic plant along the trail. he was the best ox I ever saw" (Webber, p. I finally unyoked, gave him a quart of lard, a gill of vinegar, and a handful of sugar but all to no purpose for he soon fell down and in two hours he was dead. Meeker described the death in his trail diary: "Yesterday morning Twist ate his grain as usual and showed no sign of sickness until we were on the road two or three miles when he began to put his tongue out and his breathing became heavy. Twist died on August 9, 1906, at Brady Island, Nebraska, Meeker's 120th camp on his 1906-1908 Trail marking expedition. ![]() William Mardon, hired on as a driver, joined the company at The Dalles. This ox, Twist, was paired with Dave, an unbroken four-year-old Montana range steer Meeker purchased in the Tacoma stockyards. After some difficulty, Meeker located a brace of oxen but found that only one ox was suitable for the journey. 215).īy 1905, when Meeker was preparing for his first expedition, oxen, once the ubiquitous haulers of freight and wagons, had become far less common. No more effective instrument, therefore, could have been chosen to attract attention, arouse enthusiasm, and secure aid in forwarding the work, than this living symbol of the old days" (p. The Oregon Trail, it must be remembered, is essentially an ox-team trail. Meeker described his reason for choosing to drive oxen across the trail in Ox Team Days, Or The Old Oregon Trail, written by Meeker in 1906, revised and reissued by him periodically, and revised and edited by Howard Droker in 1932: "The ox team was chosen as a typical reminder of pioneer days. After being slaughtered, their bodies were preserved via taxidermy. In life, the oxen were widely photographed and famous world-wide for pulling Meeker's covered wagon during his 12 cross-country expeditions to mark, map, and preserve the Oregon Trail. On January 14, 1916, Ezra Meeker's (1830-1928) famous and faithful oxen, Dave and Dandy, arrive at the Washington State Historical Museum in Tacoma for permanent display.
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