Button ID ??? Eagle Shield with wagon, ships and more

[winslow]

This was a surprise find among lots of modern trash (pull tabs and such) near an old mining cabin site in the woods. The few coins I found were from the 1960's. It was a disappointing outing but the button looks interesting. There is a lot going on within the shield.

Any help with identifying the button is appreciated!

 

[Mackaydon]

You may wish to work on that area directly under the wagon.
To these eyes, there appears to be a word written there.
Don.....

 

[nhbenz]

That is or was the Oregon coat of arms

 

[winslow]

That is or was the Oregon coat of arms

This was found in Oregon

 

[SkaBa]

Oregon Trail commemorative badge or button?

 

[nhbenz]

I'd suppose it's a late 1800's militia button, or that's what the state seal buttons in the eastern half of the US seem to be... Or government worker of some kind. It's slightly different than the staff button shown here: http://www.vintagebuttons.net/uniform3.html

-my only book on buttons doesn't get as far as turn of the century

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

According to the Albert book on American uniform buttons, that version of the Oregon State Seal was adopted in 1903. (An earlier version had a beaver at the top.)

The Albert book shows your button as OR-4B. Small details in its emblem, such as the position of the wagon, prove it was made by the Waterbury Button Company in Connecticut. The sharpness of detail on your button in comparison to the poorer detail on the same button being sold by that company today suggests your button was made sometime in the first half of the 20th Century.
Oregon State Seal - State Seals - Waterbury Button