In addition to the historic buildings ... we were able to view some splendid fall color.

One block from Main Street sits the restored 1940s art deco Eltrym Theatre. Local legend has it that the first owner wanted to name the theatre after his wife Myrtle. She wouldn't go along with it ... so he spelled out her name backwards.

Many of the most prominent buildings in Baker City were constructed of volcanic tuff stone during the early 1900s. The most outstanding example in our opinion has to be the St. Francis Cathedral (1908).

As we said adieu to Baker City we vowed to return to visit the other small gold rush towns in the area and to once again soak up the beauty of the Elkhorn Mountains. Driving east on Hwy 84 to Idaho was full of dramatic scenery and history. The highway parallels and overlaps portions of the Oregon Trail. It weaves between ancient volcanic rocks, a fragment of a 200 million year old ocean floor, and large cement plants. As we approached Farewell Bend (the spot where pioneers veered away from the Snake River, the river they had followed for 320 miles) we were surprised to see a sign stating that we had crossed the 45th parallel and were half way between the equator and the North Pole.

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