Boy Scouts Andrew Goller, left, and Jase Richards make sure an Oregon Trail marker they put up is level on Friday, July 31, near La Grande.

LA GRANDE — Literary works of Oregon Trail pioneers now are permanently displayed at six new sites in Union and Umatilla counties thanks to an ambitious group of Hermiston Boy Scouts.

The youths installed a total of six Oregon Trail markers made from old metal railroad ties at four Oregon Trail locations in Union County and two in Umatilla County. The work took place Friday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 1. Each marker has an engraved passage from a pioneer diary. The passages are descriptions of what diary writers saw at the approximate site of each marker.

The excerpts often are spare yet descriptive with a touch of eloquence. For example, a sign about 300 yards up a hill southeast of La Grande features this passage written by Walter Turner on Aug. 29, 1850: “Commenced the ascent of the Blue Mountains, which we found very steep, rugged and extremely stony. As soon as we began the ascent of the first hill, we were enveloped in the lofty pines of Oregon.”

The diary passages are from the book “Powerful Rockey” by La Grande historian Jack Evans, who died in 2006. The book features entries from diaries of pioneers as they passed through Idaho and Oregon.

The Northwest division of the Oregon-California Trails Association provided the diary entries and signs, and the Hermiston-area Boy Scouts, all members of Troop 654, handled the work of putting them up.

Jenny Miller, a volunteer for Troop 654, said the diary entries along the Oregon Trail are illuminating.

“They are real windows into what (the pioneers) are seeing,” said Miller, who is a member of the Northwest division of the Oregon-California Trails Association.

Miller said she was impressed with how dedicated many Oregon Trail pioneers were about keeping diaries. She said she believes they were inspirited to write because they understood the significance of their journey.

“They knew they were doing something that would change their lives forever,” she said.

Taylor Ward led the work on the markers for his Eagle Scout project. He not only oversaw the installations but Miller said Ward regularly checked the temperatures of all of the Boy Scouts assisting him to be sure they were not showing signs of having a fever and thus the possibility of COVID-19.

Isaac Reardon, already an Eagle Scout, assisted Ward, as did fellow scouts Andrew Goller, Jase Richards, Seth Reeve and Bear VanCleave, all members of Troop 654. The Boy Scouts are in the process of earning their National Historic Trail awards. To earn this award, Boy Scouts must do a project along a historic trail and also spend two nights along one. The troop members camped near Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, 29 miles northwest of La Grande, for two evenings last week.

Emigrant Springs State Park is one of two sites where the Boy Scouts installed a marker in Umatilla County. The second was in Pendleton at the edge of Olney Cemetery.

The Boy Scouts, while working in the La Grande area, installed two signs on the southeast hillside, one near Foothill Road and one in the Morgan Lake vicinity. Miller asked the Boy Scouts to look downhill into the Grande Ronde Valley after being driven up a hillside to install the markers.

“Remember, (the Oregon Trail pioneers) had to climb all the way up here,” she told the Boy Scouts.

Miller said she hopes the sign project sparks a lifelong fascination with the Oregon Trail and may lead others to advocate for its protection.

“We need younger people who want to work to help preserve the trail,” Miller said.