By Helen Hollyer

Saturday afternoon, July 4, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., when attendees at the Youth Nature Fair and dedication of the Ron Petitti Pavilion first enter Garden Lake Park, their eyes will most likely be drawn to an unfamiliar flag flying just below the American flag on the newly erected flagpole donated to the city of Creswell by the Creswell Area Historical Society.

The flag, designed by members of the historical society, depicts a wagon wheel on a brilliant red background with the words "1846 Scott-Applegate Trail Expedition – Creswell, Oregon" spelled out below.

With only an appreciation plaque remaining to be installed, the Applegate Trail Monument is nearly completed. Made possible from a grant from the Oregon Historical Trails Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, the monument includes two plaques mounted on a massive rock donated by B. J. Equipment, operators of a local quarry southeast of Creswell.

The bronze plaque says simply, "The Applegate Trail 1846;" the etched granite plaque includes a map showing the trail's route through the Creswell area and identifying the site as on the historic southern route from California to the Willamette Valley.

Two more boulders provide sitting places, as does a concrete bench donated by the United States Marine Corps reservists who worked in the park earlier this spring to construct the pavilion. They also laid a concrete border around the trail monument.

Two Oregon grape bushes, a Pacific madrone tree and two Western red cedar trees, all of which are native to the area, have been planted.