Last Man Finishes the Oregon Trail
By Walker King
April 25, 2013
As Jebidiah Sheffield staggered into the Oregon City City Hall to claim his homestead on April 17th, he officially became the last man to complete the Oregon Trail, a 2,000 mile voyage that thousands have made since mass migration began in 1842.
“Well I lit out from Independence [Missouri] back in [18]’48, and it looks like I finally made it!” said a jubilant Sheffield to reporters waiting at Oregon City. “I can’t wait to claim my 640 acres of land and get to building a cabin.”
Sheffield decided to leave the East Coast in 1847, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth and his two children, following the election of Zachary Taylor to the presidency.
“Never did like that Taylor fella’. Always gummin’ up the abolition. Neither did Liza,” Hayes said of his wife. Mrs. Sheffield died of consumption in 1887.
According to Sheffield, he and his family initially left on a wagon train, but became separated somewhere in Iowa. Unwilling to admit defeat, the family trudged on, covering most of the contiguous United States, in a journey of over 50,000 miles, in their quest to reach Oregon.
Sheffield’s daughters left his one-man wagon train in the 1960s. Both are married and live in the Portland metro area.
“I thought Dad died 30 years ago,” said Mary Quiggley-Sheffield, 188. “I’ll have to call Jane. We never thought he’d make it. Ralph and I just bought a car and drove [to Portland] in ’82.”
Of note to historians is Sheffield’s authentic Conestoga wagon, bought in Massachusetts in 1876. Sheffield’s two oxen are similarly authentic.
“Them oxes served me pretty good. One of ’em almost died of dysentery up in Regina, but I nursed ‘im through it.”
Modern biology has yet to explain how Jebidiah Sheffield has survived to age 210 , but there’s one thing everyone can agree on.
“After eatin’ nothing but hardtack and buffalo jerky for the last 167 years, I sure am looking forward to a hot meal!” said Sheffield.
At press time, no one had informed Sheffield that the federal government had closed the homestead and claimed all U.S. land in 1976.
