Mosier, Oregon

osier is a town of about 420 people between Hood River and The Dalles. The town is larger by far then it was in the mid-1800’s, but in many ways, it’s importance to Wasco County and Oregon in general is much less.

Jan Leininger did a great job of compiling the history of Mosier on The Wasco County History Site; http://www.wasco-history.r9esd.k12.or.us/comm/mosier/history0.html

“Residents of Mosier have always welcomed travelrs – even as far back 1854, when Jonah H. Mosier settled here on a donation land claim. Mosier, a cabinetmaker by trade, had made the rugged trip west twice – to Califronia in 1849, and again to Oregon 1853. Mosier and his wife operated an impromptu stage station, catering to the hudnreds of Oregon Trail emigrants who steamed down the Gorge on their way to the Willamette Veally.

The railroad arrived in 1882 and spared a real estate boom as settlers, drawn by the ease of transportation and by reports of ideal apple-growing conditions, queued up to purchase land. As it turned out, cherries were far more suitable for the area’s soil – but it would take many years for growers to realize this – and even more years for them to switch crops.

Mosier got another infusion of industry with the arrival of the Columbia River Highway in 1921. Roadhouses, restaurants, and service stations lined the scenic road where it passed through town, and the hills echoed with the sputter and cough of touring cars on their way to or from The Dalles.”