Memorial Day Weekend 2011, day 2

It's a windy day along the Oregon Trail! 

Our pioneer re-enactors have moved inside and to the front porch (except for Kass & the oxen!) The scrapple & lentil stew have proven popular with visitors, the Center is filled with strains of fiddle music, and Karen Haas is scheduled to take the stage in our Leo Adler Theater at 2:00 with her program "Back to the Fur Trade".

C'mon up! Wagon Encampment today!

The bison stew is ready to sample, huckleberry cobbler is going fast.

No rain or snow this morning, though it's a little bit breezy.

Our living history pioneers have rounded
up the wagons to recreate the sights, sounds and
smells of a frontier wagon camp.

This weekend we are portraying the early days
of the trail and foods that might have been available

at the start-off towns. 

Wagon encampment is scheduled for
10:00-2:00.

Look Whooooo stopped by....

Yesterday was busy with special activities set up for school groups---pen & ink practice, weaving, biscuits baked in the wagon encampment,

& a special Pack Your Wagon program.

We had an unexpected, but welcome guest,

on the deck just off the Flagstaff Gallery.

This little guy couldn't see inside.... but over 200 visiting fourth graders and their chaperones got an up close view of this great horned owlet.

New Saddle

     The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center staff is happy to show off the new saddle that can be seen on our guide/mountain man display. A reproduction Santa Fe style saddle which, it be seen as the ancestor of all modern western saddles. The stirrups are hand carved and wrapped with leather, standard for the mountain man and Oregon Trail time-frames. Additionally a hemp hobble hangs around the horse’s neck and was used to keep horses from running away; a lead rope, necessary to tie the horse up or, as the name implies, to lead the horse around and a “parfletch” saddlebag which was a necessity for any horseman traveling long distances. Finally a quirt was added, made of spare leather and a table leg, which could be used for hurrying a sluggish animal along. Our new saddle replaces a 1890s style McClellan style saddle which was to recent for the era of the Oregon Trail. We would like to thank Mike Buckner of the U2 Saddle Shop in Vale, Oregon for the creation of the new saddle and all the effort he put in to make it look authentic and aged.

Winter's tail?

--Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail.--

See more images of our May snowfall at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trailtender/sets/72157626735775682/

who-oo-oo-oo else?

Who?