"One of the most famous figures in Aurora history never actually made it to town. Willie Keil died of malaria in 1855 in Bethel Colony, Missouri, a few days before he was to accompany his father, German immigrant and evangelical leader William Keil, and about 80 colonists on a journey west to establish a new settlement of their communal society near Willapa Bay."
"My own trip to Aurora on a sunny Friday in late fall is a little smoother. I take TriMet's 35 through Lake Oswego and West Linn to the end of the line, in downtown Oregon City, and then catch Canby Area Transit's 99X. (Had the timing worked out, I could have taken an Amtrak train for $2, but then I would have had a bit of a walk to the connecting bus.)"
Willie Keil died of malaria in 1855 in Bethel Colony, Missouri, days before joining his father's westward Oregon Trail journey with about 80 colonists to establish a communal settlement near Willapa Bay. His father placed Willie in a metal coffin inside a custom wooden vat filled with three barrels of Golden Rule whiskey for the trip, and Willie was buried near present-day Raymond, Washington, before the group moved inland. A contemporary trip to Aurora can be made via TriMet's 35 to Oregon City and then Canby Area Transit's 99X, with an Amtrak alternative requiring a short walk. The route passes through Barlow and crosses the Pudding River, and Aurora is noted as a popular destination for antiquers.
Read at Portland Monthly
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