The second lecture in the Historical Museum of St. Gertrude October lecture series will be presented this Thursday, October 12, at 7:00 p.m. by Alex McGregor. His presentation “Merchants, Mule Packers, A Rugged Path to Success: The Mullan Road, 1860-1883” will provide a unique perspective on early transportation and the impact on the region.
Alex Mc Gregor is president of The McGregor Company, a farm supply business with 360 employees and offices in nearly four dozen rural communities of the Inland Northwest. He also serves as Managing General Partner of McGregor Land & Livestock, a 135-year-old eastern Washington family wheat, barley, and livestock ranch. Alex is also the recipient of the first Washington Association of Wheat Growers “Outstanding Member of the Year” award. He has been very active as a speaker on behalf of farm families and rural communities of the Inland Northwest. His book, “Counting Sheep,” a history of agriculture in the Inland NW, was chosen as one of the top one hundred “centennial books” written since Washington became a state.
Alex then authored a chapter of “The Mullan Road,” a recent publication by Mountain Press celebrating the 150th anniversary of the construction of the 624-mile military wagon road built between Fort Walla Walla, Washington territory, into northern Idaho and on to Fort Benton, in the future state of Montana. He wrote it in memory of his father, Sherman, who showed him the old trails and told him of the pioneers he had known. “These pioneers did not know the meaning of the word fear and forged on until the trail was complete,” he says.
A Q&A session with the McGregor follows the lecture. The event is free and light refreshments are provided. The lecture will take place in the Johanna Room at Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude located at 465 Keuterville Road, Cottonwood, Idaho.
These events have been made possible and free to the public through a partnership with the Idaho Humanities Council. For more information: 208-962-2054 or museum@stgertrudes.org.
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