Ezra Meeker, the Puyallup pioneer of Oregon Trail fame, no doubt lived a long and adventurous life. Just read any of the books Meeker wrote and he’ll tell you so. They are books written by Ezra Meeker, about Ezra Meeker with embellishments abound.
And whatever Ezra Meeker didn’t embellish upon enough, the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion and
Wikipedia editor Gary Greenbaum would, publishing a history of Ezra Meeker that is nothing short of inaccurate, false, and misleading.
Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion
On March 24, 2013, members of the Ezra Meeker Historical Society approved amended articles of incorporation, changing their name from Ezra Meeker Historical Society to Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion. The name change would take effect on the date the amended articles are filed with the Washington Secretary of State, which was July 12, 2013. [1]
This wasn’t just the rebranding of an organization, it was an organization hellbent on reinventing Ezra Meeker and connecting his name to the Oregon Trail. With the assistance of Gary Greenbaum, an editor for Wikipedia with the username “Wehwalt”, the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion began editing the Ezra Meeker Wikipedia page, replacing the existing content with content created entirely by them. [2]
Between March 24, 2013 when the amended articles were approved, and July 12, 2013 when the amended articles were filed and the name change became official, the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion and Gary Greenbaum made over 300 edits to the Ezra Meeker Wikipedia page, effectively rewriting the entire history of Ezra Meeker with their own inaccurate, false, and misleading version. [3]
The authors cited secondary sources only as evidence to support their version of events, without any corroboration from a single primary source historical document. [4]
References cited by the authors included
- Ezra Meeker Historical Society (themself) – cited 24 times
- Lori Price, a president of the Ezra Meeker Historical Society (themself) – cited 26 times
- Authors whose works were commissioned by the Ezra Meeker Historical Society (themself) – cited 43 times
- Bert and Margie Webber – cited 36 times
- Ezra Meeker – cited 15 times
At the time the edits began on March 24, 2013, the existing content contained the words “Oregon Trail” just 9 times. After the edits were completed, the words “Oregon Trail” appear in the rewritten history of Ezra Meeker 47 times. At the start of the edits, Ezra Meeker was mentioned by name just 5 times. The rewritten history of Ezra Meeker on Wikipedia now mentions Ezra Meeker by name 74 times. [2] [4]
Gary Greenbaum
During the five months prior to Gary Greenbaum editing the Ezra Meeker Wikipedia page, Greenbaum rewrote the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar page on Wikipedia. In 1926 President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation authorizing the minting of a coin recognizing the early pioneers who travelled the Oregon Trail. Ezra Meeker was a champion of that legislation. [5]
When Greenbaum began editing the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar page, Ezra Meeker was mentioned by name twice, and Oregon Trail was mentioned 12 times. After Greenbaum’s edits were complete, Ezra Meeker was mentioned by name 13 times and Oregon Trail mentioned 68 times. [6]
Gary Greenbaum went so far as to falsely state, “Although he is not formally commemorated by the coin, the man was meant to be Meeker”, citing the magazine Numismatist as evidence to support his statement. The article from the magazine Greenbaum cited was authored by none other than Gary Greenbaum. Gary Greenbaum cited himself as evidence to support the claims he wrote on Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar page 30 times. [6]
The content found on the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar Wikipedia page for the most part mirrors the content found on the Ezra Meeker Wikipedia page. Together the two pages connect Ezra Meeker to the Oregon Trail, the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar to Ezra Meeker, and the Oregon Trail to Ezra Meeker more than 200 times. [6] [4]
Since its completion, the Ezra Meeker Wikipedia page has been cited by countless authors in their own works and is used freely on websites around the world, including the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion own website.
Claim
As both Jacob and Phoebe Meeker realized the boy enjoyed the outdoor life more than inside work, Jacob placed Ezra in charge of the farm, allowing the elder Meeker to work as a miller.
–Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion, https://www.meekermansion.org/our-story-1
–Gary Greenbaum, Wikipedia, Ezra Meeker, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker
⊗ Mostly False
The 1850 United States Census lists Jacob Meeker’s occupation as miller, Oliver Meeker’s occupation as miller, and Ezra Meeker’s occupation as none. Had Jacob Meeker put Ezra Meeker in charge of the farm as claimed, then his occupation would have surely been listed as farmer. There is no evidence to support the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion’s claim that Ezra Meeker was put in charge of the family farm. [7]
Claim
In October 1851, the couple set out for Eddyville, Iowa, where they rented a farm. Ezra, working in a surveyor’s camp, decided that he did not like Iowa’s winters—a prejudice shared by his pregnant wife. Reports were circulating through the prairies about the Oregon Territory’s free land and mild climate. Also influencing the decision was the urging of Oliver Meeker who, with friends, had outfitted for the trip to Oregon near Indianapolis, and had come to Eddyville to recruit his brother. Ezra and Eliza Jane Meeker vacillated on the decision, and it was not until early April 1852, more than a month after the birth of their son Marion, that they decided to travel the Oregon Trail.
–Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion, https://www.meekermansion.org/our-story-1
–Gary Greenbaum, Wikipedia, Ezra Meeker, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker
⊗ False and Misleading
The Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion and Gary Greenbaum neglected to reveal several important events that occurred after Ezra Meeker and his wife Eliza Jane moved to Eddyville, Iowa in October 1851. The evidence for the events comes from Ezra Meeker himself, in a letter he wrote to his daughter, Carrie (Caddie) Osborne dated May 14, 1908. Meeker’s 1908 letter is part of the Ezra Meeker Papers, a collection of historical documents from Ezra Meeker’s lifetime, maintained and preserved by the Washington State Historical Society. Ezra Meeker’s 1908 letter provides a primary source record of the events that occurred after he arrived in Eddyville at the end of October through the first week of April 1852, when he and Eliza Jane decided to go to Oregon Territory.
The letter reveals that after arriving in Eddyville at the end of October 1851, Ezra and Eliza Jane first stayed with Ezra’s uncle and aunt, Charles and Narcissa Meeker, who lived just across the Des Moines River from Eddyville in Monroe County. Needing to earn some much-needed income, Ezra found work as a cook with the surveying expedition of Walter Clement of Eddyville, Iowa and Mr. Seavers of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Ezra’s eldest brother John Valentine Meeker also worked for Mr. Clement, as a flagman. When it came time for Ezra to leave town with the expedition, Eliza Jane refused to stay with Ezra’s uncle and aunt because the uncle was mean to his wife. To solve the problem, Ezra rented a 10×10 room for Eliza Jane at the home of a local minister named Spaulding.
Uncle Charly wanted your mother to stay with them but she wouldn’t do it. Uncle was cross to Aunt Narcissa and that settled it with your mother.
–Ezra Meeker letter to his daughter Caddie Osborne, 14 May 1908, Meeker Papers, Box 7, Folder 8C
By December, Ezra was working at a surveyor’s camp near Kanesville in the far western part of the state. One day one of their flagmen, C. W. Vance, was sick, so Mr. Clement asked Ezra to fill in for him. Mr. Clement was so impressed with Ezra’s ability that he promoted him to a flagman. Meeker told his daughter about his promotion to flagman and that he could plant the flag exactly on the line just like his eldest brother John.
One day their flagman, Vance thought he was sick and Mr. Clement asked me if I would go for the day. I told him certainly I would. That ended my cooking for I beat Vance so bad flagging that Mr. Clement wouldn’t consent to give me up. There was no mystery about it to me but there was to him for time and again I would plant the flag exactly on the line. Uncle John (Ezra’s brother John V. Meeker) could do much the same.
–Ezra Meeker letter to his daughter Caddie Osborne, 14 May 1908, Meeker Papers, Box 7, Folder 8C
Within days after his promotion to flagman, as Iowa’s bitter cold winter began to settle in, Ezra Meeker informed a very displeased Mr. Clement that he needed to get home to his wife Eliza Jane (who was now six months pregnant with their first child) and get into a place before the baby was born. Ezra and C. W. Vance made it back to Eddyville just before Christmas, nearly freezing to death. Ezra Meeker tells his daughter in his 1908 letter about why he quit his job with the surveying crew.
But when the first of January came I would go home. I wanted to get into a place before that important pending event should occur and Mr. Clement was very much displeased because I would go. It was terrible cold and some places 30 miles between cabins but I made it all right and Vance would go with me and came very near freezing to death.
–Ezra Meeker, Letter to his daughter Caddie Osborne, 14 May 1908, Meeker Papers, Box 7, Folder 8C
In late January 1852, Ezra and Eliza Jane rented a large 40-acre farm with a cabin three miles outside of Eddyville from a gentleman named John B. Gray. On March 4, 1852, at the cabin on their farm just outside of Eddyville, Eliza Jane gave birth to their first child, a son named Marion Jasper Meeker.
What Ezra Meeker didn’t know was, back home in Indiana at the family farm near Indianapolis during the winter of 1851, Ezra’s older brother, twenty-four-year-old Oliver Perry Meeker and a group of friends and neighbors were making preparations for a journey in the spring to Oregon Territory. The friends and neighbors were John and Jacob Davenport, David Wesley Ballard, Jane Ballard, and David’s younger brother, nineteen-year-old Martin D. Ballard.
While on his way to Oregon, Oliver made a stop near Eddyville, Iowa, the first week of April 1852, to visit his younger brother Ezra and wife Eliza Jane. The couple were living three miles outside of town on the forty-acre farm they began renting in January from John B. Gray. It was during this visit that Oliver persuaded Ezra and Eliza Jane to go to Oregon with him, and by the end of April they were on their way.
In his 1908 letter to his daughter, Ezra tells her about Oliver’s visit and the sudden decision he and Eliza Jane made to go to Oregon with him.
But Oliver came along on the way to Oregon and so we very suddenly concluded to go too, and a partnership was formed with William Buck (Oliver had already made his arrangements with others before leaving home) and in two weeks’ time we were on the road.
− Ezra Meeker, Letter to his daughter Caddie Osborne, 14 May 1908, Meeker Papers, Box 7, Folder 8C
Ezra Meeker’s 1908 letter makes it clear that he n o plans on going to Oregon in 1852 until his brother Oliver Meeker showed up while on his way to Oregon and persuaded Ezra and Eliza Jane to go to Oregon too. The claim that Ezra and Eliza Jane Meeker vacillated on the decision, and it was not until early April 1852, more than a month after the birth of their son Marion, that they decided to travel the Oregon Trail is ludicrous. Baby Marion was already a month old when Oliver showed up.
Ezra and Eliza Jane did not make any decision to travel the Oregon Trail. The first 700 miles Ezra Meeker travelled when he pulled out of Eddyville for Oregon April 24, 1852 was along the Mormon Trail. The Oregon Trail was 200 miles south of Eddyville starting In Independence, Missouri. The Mormon Trail and Oregon Trail would not meet until Fort Laramie in present day Wyoming. three months after Ezra Meeker left Eddyville.
There is no end to the false narrative the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion and Gary Greenbaum published as being the history of Ezra Meeker. It is a biased, inaccurate, false, and misleading history of Ezra Meeker.
Citations
- Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities, Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion, UBI: 600412519, Articles of Amendment, Filing Number: 0001614695, 07/31/2013.
- Wikipedia, Ezra Meeker, oldid: 547598606, 11:26, 29 March 2013, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ezra_Meeker&oldid=547598606.
- XTools, Wehwalt, Ezra Meeker, en.wikipedia.org, Top Edits to a Page, https://xtools.wmcloud.org/topedits/en.wikipedia.org/Wehwalt/0/Ezra_Meeker.
- Wikipedia, Ezra Meeker, Notes and references, Citations, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker.
- Wikipedia, Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oregon_Trail_Memorial_half_dollar&oldid=515853885.
- Wikipedia, Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail_Memorial_half_dollar.
- 1850 United States Census, Wayne Township, Marion County, IN., page 651, Line 28, Ezra M. Meeker, age 20, male, occupation: none, October 1, 1850