01Biography
Born in Kentucky, Barlow crossed the trail in 1845 with his family. Frustrated by the cost and danger of rafting wagons down the Columbia, he and Joel Palmer scouted, surveyed, and cut a wagon road around the south side of Mount Hood in 1845 and 1846. The Barlow Road let emigrants finish the trail by land for a $5 toll per wagon, and is generally taken to mark the Oregon Trail's true overland completion.
02Why they matter
Built the toll road that finished the Oregon Trail by land, ending the era of dangerous Columbia rafting.
03How they died
Died on 14 July 1867, aged 75, on his farm at the foot of Mount Hood. He had sold his interest in the toll road to the Oregon territorial legislature within a few years of completing it.
04Legacy
The Barlow Road is a National Historic Landmark, and sections of the original wagon trace can still be hiked today inside Mount Hood National Forest.