Cottage Grove - Long before computer generated animation and digital effects, the movie industry created its magic through the imagination and skill of actors and directors. During the silent film era, few were more inventive than Buster Keaton.

One of his most famous movies, The General, didn't come from Hollywood it was made in Oregon. We go on a hunt to see if reminders of this piece of film history still exist.

Based on a Civil War battle scene, 'The General' follows a stolen train chase between Union and Confederate soldiers. And even though Oregon is thousands of miles from the Mason Dixon line, Buster Keaton shot his classic in Cottage Grove.

"The encampment, the scene with all of the tents and those sorts of things that was shot literally next door. The little town of Marietta shot right there in now the street the post office is on," says Lloyd Williams with the Cottage Grove Historical Society.

And along the Row River, the location of Keaton's daring stunt. A full size train tries to cross a burning trestle bridge, but dies in the river instead.

"It cost over $40,000 and in 1926 that was the most expensive stunt that had ever been performed on film," says Williams.

It was a sight that drew thousands. "I remember trying to see you know," says Mary Krenk who witnessed the scene. At six years old, Krenk landed a front row seat for the finale of 'The General.'

"Natalie Talmadge, she said come here, and I went up and she sat me right on her lap," says Krenk. "I knew Buster Keaton's name I didn't know that was his wife."

But 81 years later are memories all that's left? We went on a hike with Lloyd Williams, and Keaton's great grandson, Brady Cox.

"It is a little treacherous so be careful," says Williams as he guides us down the hillside. He says he's 99% sure that the location along the Row River is right.

"That rock would be where this rock is, the second rock is here, the trestle would have been just on the other side of that large rock," points out Williams.

"These trees would have been gone on both sides as you can see in the film where the horses comes down and the battles happening the train trestle was right there," adds Cox.

One thing you can see is the actual remnants of the crash in the middle of a deep pool on the Row River. There is a single piece of the railroad track but it's jammed into rocks, and since the film was made during the summer months the high water levels are making it tough to see.

"It's right there," shows Cox. He and Lloyd saw the track just last August. "I think there's a lot of shifting that happens each year and it was right out in there in that deeper pool," says Cox.

Though we didn't see it this time, the mystery is a piece of movie history. "I felt like I just had a touch of Hollywood," says Krenk. And the legacy of Buster Keaton, that lives on, years after the day a train died in the Row River.

"It's like an era that's long gone," says Williams. Lloyd Williams hopes some day a plaque will memorialize the sight.