Most People Don't Realize This Beautiful Oregon Trail Has A Truly Gruesome History
By Catherine Armstrong|Published July 21, 2018
×
Catherine Armstrong
Author
Writer, editor and researcher with a passion for exploring new places. Catherine loves local bookstores, independent films, and spending time with her family, including Gus the golden retriever, who is a very good boy.
From incredible waterfall trails to rural rail trails, the Beaver State has tons of hiking trails, each unique and beautiful. There’s one trail along the coast that held a gruesome secret for years, and even today, many Oregonians don’t know about this dark time in our state’s history. Keep scrolling to learn about Amanda’s Trail:
Amanda's Trail stretches between Yachats and Cape Perpetua. It's 3.7 miles one-way and is considered moderately difficult.
This land was once part of the Coast Indian Reservation. When the U.S. Government decided that it no longer wanted to keep the terms of the treaty formed in 1855, it started rounding up Native Americans and moving them to a new reservation.
Rather than endure poor conditions and worse treatment, some people ran away from the new reservation. The military hunted them down, then marched them back. Amanda De-Cuys was one of the runaways who was captured. Elderly and blind, she was forced to walk along steep, difficult terrain with the others.
The Corporal in charge, Royal Bensell, stated that he thought they should just kill all the women because it was taking too long for them to make the treacherous journey. The party was only able to walk about 10 miles per day, and "Old Amanda" cut her feet on some sharp rocks. She left bloody footprints for miles, but was forced to continue on.
It took 10 days for the party to reach Yachats. Amanda and the other runaways were left at the new reservation until 1875, when that reservation was also terminated so that white settlers could take over the area. The remaining tribe members were moved to other reservations inland and forgotten.
For more than 100 years, the gruesome secret of this trail was unknown to most Oregonians. In 1984, Loyd Collett, a trail planner who worked for the Siuslaw National Forest, stumbled upon the story and decided to dedicate a trail in Amanda's Name.
Today, you'll find a statue and monument to her and her people in a little clearing along the path. Take some time to sit on one of the benches and reflect on the trials faced by Amanda and her people in the 19th century.
