History of Death and Dying in Oregon

Elizabeth Fournier and Sallie Tisdale present an interactive evening of trivia and tragedy about the history of death in Oregon. The Oregon Trail was traveled by pioneers looking for free land in wide open spaces, perhaps with a little gold to be found. But…there was a catch: Almost 2,000 miles of heat, dust, cholera microbes, impassable mountains, frostbite, hunger and fast-moving rivers. Death was rampant on the Oregon Trail. Using history, archaeology and folklore, this talk explores Oregon’s approaches to death and burial from the trail to the present day. We will look at ancient customs, some of which have lapsed and others survived almost unchanged, and new approaches such as assisted dying and eco-burials – and of course the impact of Covid-19 upon our way of dying.