Cattle drawn carriage photograph

Dated July 3, 1923, this photograph shows three men operating a cattle drawn carriage through Meacham, Oregon, near the Old Oregon Trail. Additional wagons can be seen behind, and people line the parade route. This occurred while President Warren G. Harding was in town giving a speech commemorating the Oregon Trail. The President and First Lady stopped in Meacham during their "Voyage of Understanding," a cross-country train journey that included numerous stops along the route where Harding had speaking engagements, and culminated in the first-ever presidential visit to the territory of Alaska. The trip was taken in spite of the president's failing health, and on August 2, Harding suffered a heart attack, and never made it to his second stop in Portland, scheduled for July 28. He died August 2, 1923, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. This photograph is part of a photograph album in the Warren G. Harding Photograph Collection (P146). Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States from 1921-1923, was born near Marion, Ohio, in 1865. At age 14, Harding attended Ohio Central College, where he edited the campus newspaper and became an accomplished public speaker. He married Florence Kling de Wolfe in 1891, and embarked on his political career in 1898 by winning a seat in the Ohio legislature for two terms. Harding became Lieutenant Governor in 1903 for two years before returning to the newspaper business. While unsuccessful in a run for Governor in 1910, Harding won election to the U.S. Senate in 1914. Political insider Harry Daugherty began promoting Harding for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920. His campaign, known as “The Front Porch Campaign,” was centered on low-key speeches given from his home in Marion, Ohio, pledging to return the country to “normalcy.” Harding easily won the election, gaining 61 percent of the popular vote. On August 2, 1923, Harding died from a massive heart attack and is entombed in the Marion Cemetery