Ezra Meeker braved the Oregon Trail in 1852, eventually becoming a hop farmer and broker. He platted the town of Puyallup, Washington and served as its first mayor. By the 1880s he had built a fortune and a mansion. But in 1892, a scourge of aphids devastated the hop harvest, followed by a severe national economic depression, sweeping his assets away, "slick as a mitten." During the gold rush, Meeker ventured to the treacherous Klondike four times, transporting and selling 100 tons of groceries to Yukon gold miners. His wife, who remained closer to home, managed the food-drying and canning operation, manufacturing granulated eggs and dehydrated soup vegetables. Three years of letters, most from Ezra to his beloved Eliza Jane, relate the details of his risky schemes and intriguing experiences, from business and mining pursuits to family relationships.-- Publisher.

Slick as a Mitten: Ezra Meeker's Klondike Enterprise

Biographies & Memoirs

Larsen, Dennis M.

Historical

Washington State University Press

<p>Two of Ezra Meeker's most defining traits were his ability to recognize business opportunities and his willingness to take risks. The Oregon Trail pioneer traveled west in 1852, eventually settling in the Puyallup Valley. In the mid-1860s, he planted his first hops and attained modest success. Serving as a broker, he traveled to New York and London to open new markets, and hired a chemist to confirm Northwest hops produced more extract than those grown in Bavaria or New York. In 1882, Pacific coast growers benefited from widespread crop failure elsewhere. Desperate brewers offered astronomical prices. E. Meeker and Co. became the largest hops exporter in the country, and Ezra the official "hop king." As an outstanding entrepreneur on a local and global scale and through his involvement in pivotal regional events such as women's suffrage and the Chinese expulsion, Meeker helped transform the landscape, economics, and politics of his adopted home on Puget Sound.</p>

Hop King: Ezra Meeker's Boom Years

<p>Ezra Meeker first came west on the overland trail in 1852. At age 75 he trekked east over the Oregon Trail with oxen and a covered wagon, setting markers along the way, and became a national celebrity. Never one to shy away from adventure, his other exploits included publishing books, lecture tours, additional Oregon Trail expeditions, attending the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, experimenting with motion pictures, founding societies, cruising in what may have been the first motorized RV, performing in a Wild West show, and roaming the country selling commemorative coins. Endearing and captivating, but also at times exasperating and irrational, his extraordinary preservation efforts were crucial to saving the trail. A part of his story no one has previously told, this volume begins in 1901 and completes an ambitious biography.</p>

Saving the Oregon Trail: Ezra Meeker's Last Grand Quest

Washington State Univ Pr

Our Faces Are Westward: The 1852 Oregon Trail Journey of Edward Jay Allen

History

Johnson, Karen L.

Americas

Oregon California Trails Assn

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