WHAT MAKES US GREAT AT THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

     At this time of year, we reflect on our lives and the people who have made a difference.  The National Oregon/California Trail Center has been chosen two years in a row by  Trip Adviser as one of the top ten attractions in the United States.

     Credit needs to be given to the people who enabled the Center to achieve this great goal.  The following is a picture of the staff at the National Oregon/California Trail Center, in Montpelier, Idaho

   

  Not present for the photo is:  Sara Merritt,  Beth McMurry, Francis Cook, Christy Roberts, Barbra Hayes, Carole Sue Folette, Erin Johnson, Maddie Forsberg, Jenna Hill, Karen Lake, Kalie Kunz,  Christina Lusk Rick Pullium, and Jason Allred.

     Thanks to the staff for another great year!

EXCITING THINGS WE GET TO DO AT THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER!

     One of the favorite things we get to do here at the National Oregon/California Trail Center is to plan a yearly exhibit for our facility.  One of the first exhibits we put together was our 2010 Bear Exhibit.

     We like to highlight the local wildlife that is found in our area, so we decided to focus on the different species of Bears.

     Bear Lake is home to a great taxidermy specialist, Rick Bergholm.  Rick has roamed the local mountains for years, and has had the opportunity to view most all of the species of Bears that live in our area.  He was kind enough to bring in a collection of the different species.

     This exhibit ran for only three weeks as some of the bears that were loaned to us had to return to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.  They loaned us an 9.5' grizzly bear and a  grizzly bear cub.

     We were really sad to have the little guy go back!  He looked so peaceful sleeping up on our ledge.  The school children loved him!

KICKING OFF THE HOLIDAY SEASON AT THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

     The National Oregon/California Trail Center is a unique place.  It not only is a historical campsite on the Oregon Trail, but a community center as well.  Community members decided 18 years ago to preserve a portion of a documented campsite on the Oregon Trail called, "Clover Creek Encampment".

    The Center has been the gathering place for over 50,000 visitors each summer, but more importantly it is a gathering spot for the local people who have built the facility.  The National Oregon/California Trail Center gives back to it's community by providing an annual Arts and Craft Festival.  This festival draws locals and regional visitors alike.  This year the center was visited by two families from the East Coast.  One family was from New York City, New York, and the other was from Chicago, Illinois.  Both families were traveling through our area and stopped to see what was going on.  They were impressed!

   
 Because of the historical significance of the Clover Creek Camp Site, it was decided this year to open up the Living History Tour and allow vendors to set up their booths throughout the tour area.  Many locals are either too busy or don't have the money to visit their own local attractions during the summer months and the center felt it was important to share the tour with the very locals who helped build it.

     Each year the Oregon Trail Auxiliary and Gift Shop Manager Cindy Raymond work feverishly for about three days to transform the center into it's holiday best.  A special thanks to the Oregon Trail Auxiliary and Cindy Raymond for creating a winter wonderland for everyone to enjoy.  

     A very special thank you to all the local people of the Bear Lake Valley and their families who come and visit us during this holiday kick off.  

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR TREE FESTIVAL BUSINESSES

     A special thanks to the businesses who displayed trees in the annual Arts & Craft Festival here at the National Oregon/California Trail Center, November 29th and 30th.

JUNE MARIE SAXTON & BEAR NECESSITIES

KINGS VARIETY STORES

VIRGINIA SNEDDON

DR. PETER CRANE 

AND THE BEAR LAKE FAMILY CARE CENTER

BROULIMS FOOD STORE

OREGON TRAIL CENTER AUXILIARY

ANIMALS NEED HELP

WORKING TOGETHER TOWARD ONE GOAL

     It is amazing how much you can accomplish when working together towards a common goal.  Yesterday was spent with two amazing ladies.  Beth Page and Virginia Price.

     Beth, Virginia and myself all belong to the Bear Lake Quilt Guild.  Beth is in charge of the block of the month for the guild and each month members are encouraged to make two blocks to sew into charity quilts.  Our guild calls them "Sunshine Quilts".  Beth is in charge of getting them sewn together and to the quilter to be quilted.

     It was decided at the beginning of the year to meet the week after guild and sew the blocks together.  Last month we had six wonderful ladies donate their time and in two and a half hours we pieced two queen sized quilts and put the borders on them.

     Yesterday, due to being so close to the Thanksgiving holiday we only had three quilters.  It was amazing how much longer it took us to piece only one quilt.  We didn't even get the borders on.

     The day was priceless however, because Beth and Virginia are two of the most experienced quilters in our guild and the lessons learned were time well spent.  You can't buy that kind of fun and entertainment!  :)

     Thanks to all the ladies who make up the Bear Lake Quilt Guild and all they do for our community!

A SHOUT OUT FOR HELP EDUCATING STUDENTS

     The National Oregon/California Trail Center's main goal is to preserve, perpetuate and educate students about the history of the Oregon/California Trail Pioneers.

     For over seventeen years now we have had a successful student education program, where we bring school children to the center and allow them for one hour to experience what it was like to be a child on the Oregon Trail.  

   

     With deep cutbacks in government funding for school districts, over 1,300 school children are being told that their districts can't afford to transport them to our center to learn about the Oregon Trail.  They are being forced to miss out on one of the finest and most vivid experiences that truly brings to life the struggles and joys of the Westward Migration.

  Our goal this year is to create a dedicated student education fund to make sure each and every student and school has a chance to experience life as a child on the Oregon Trail.  We will have several fundraisers to generate the funds needed to offer any school child the chance to learn through hands on history.

    The children above are attending a class on what it was like to go to school in the early 1800's

     These students learn exactly how much room they DON'T have when preparing for a 2,000 mile journey to Oregon.

     And these students are learning how the pioneers celebrated through music and dance.

  Please join us this year to reach our goal of raising $15,000 to bring those 1,300 students back and allow them to learn of their pioneer heritage.  Please share our story with others who are educationally and historically minded.  Any donation in any amount is appreciated, and helps us achieve our educational goals.

     You can donate to the student education fund by visiting our website at:  www.oregontrailcenter.org and going to "The Trail Center" icon at the top of the page.  On the drop down menu please choose the support opportunities.  You can designate that your contribution goes directly to the student education fund.

     

     In addition to donating online please mark your calendar for April 18, 2014.  We will be hosting the first annual Student Education Fundraiser.  This evening will allow 65 couples to come and enjoy dinner (prime rib, or salmon) show (classic rock and roll) and a tour of what the school children experience while they visit us.  Our evening also includes one night's stay for the couple in either the Clover Creek Inn or the Super 8 Motel.  We will be posting more information about this activity as of January 1, 2014.  

     Each couple that donates the cost of this evening will help put 16 children back on the Oregon Trail!  Remember, like us on Facebook and share this blog post with other like minded historians and educators.

Happy Trails!

HISTORICAL ROUTES NEAR THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

   The Oregon/California Trail wasn't the only history that passed through our little valley.  If you follow I15 North from Salt Lake City and cut off at Brigham City, Utah you will find Scenic By-Way US Highway 89.

     Taking US Highway 89 brings you right into Montpelier, Idaho.  If you follow the signs and continue up 89 to Jackson Hole, you pass the Montpelier reservoir.  This is where the old freighter's route begins.

     The route is known even today as the Crow Creek Road and was the link between the settlements of Afton, Wyoming and Montpelier, Idaho.  The 100 mile round trip between Afton and the rail head at Montpelier would take a team of horses from three to seven days depending on the conditions along the way.  The route started in 1879 and was used by Star Valley's first settlers.

     John and Sara Broadbent Nield moved their family to Star Valley in 1888 over the Crow Creek Road.  In 1890 sons Joseph L and John E Nield subcontracted the mail for two years from Montpelier to Afton, and the Nield family carried mail under this contract for twelve consecutive years.

      By 1934 trucks rolled over this road and brought mail to the valley.  The Crow Creek Road has several interesting stopping points along the way.  One such spot is the White Dug Way.  The dug way is composed of white shale.  Freighters learned to be cautious as a wagon or sleigh could easily slide off the dug way and tip over.  Other interesting sites along the way are the Half Way House, Camp Give Out, Snow Slide Canyon and Whiskey Flats.  Each one of these sites are marked with historical information about that site.

 

 For fifty years the life line of the Star Valley Community  was the Crow Creek Road.  Cheese, butter, hides, wool and hogs, loaded on sleighs and wagons, moved to the rail head at Montpelier, Idaho.  Machinery and equipment large and small, household goods, food, clothing, and medical supplies were hauled on the return trip.  The Star Valley Stage moved Mail and passengers daily.

 The Crow Creek Road is still accessible today by car or truck.  Many locals will use it to "go get a burger & fries" in Star Valley.  Markers and historical information is available at each of the sites along the route.

CHRISTMAS ARTS AND CRAFT FAIR AT THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

The time is drawing near for the annual Christmas Arts and Craft Fair at the Oregon Trail Center.  As stated in previous blog posts we are not only a historical site, but a community gathering place.  One of the favorite gathering times for all the young people to return to the valley, and families to be together is Thanksgiving.

Many are looking for something to do while home visiting the "folks".  Thus six years ago the Christmas Arts & Craft Fair began.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER:  BRUCE GRAYUM

FUN EVENTS AT THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

     We really try hard to live up to our mission statement here at the National Oregon/California Trail Center.  It states that we are to, "preserve, perpetuate, educate and per mote the historical legacy of the Oregon/California Pioneers."

     We LOVE hands on history.  In 2008 we hosted the traveling Smithsonian exhibit called "Journeys Stories".  This exhibit focused on people's journeys to America and their travels.  One of the challenges of hosting this exhibit was to highlight local people and their journeys.

     One such local from our area was Amos Wright who also happened to be a Pony Express Rider.  So.....we just had to do an actual Pony Express run from Montpelier, Idaho to Paris, Idaho.  We invited local school children and adults to participate.  We had a special cancellation made up by the United States Post Office just for this event and sold Cache's to raise money for our school children education program.

     Below are some pictures of this event.  Enjoy!!!

MORE ABOUT THE "QUILTS ON THE OREGON TRAIL" QUILT SHOW

     The National Oregon/California Trail Center is located on a portion of an actual documented campsite used by the Oregon/California Trail Pioneers.  The community leaders wanted to preserve this site and to also create some economic development for our community.

     As the ebb and flow of economics through the years left the Montpelier economy depleted, many were scratching their heads in the 1980's to recover from loosing the Union Pacific Rail Road.  Union Pacific still has a presence but the jobs are only a quarter of what used to be there.....(that's another story for another day.)

    So the dream of the National Oregon/California Trail Center took shape.  In 2000 the center opened to the public.  I give you this small history to give context to the quilt show.  In our mission statement it states that we are all about economic development for our community.

   In 2007 we needed to get more people to visit the center.  The visitation was about 5,000 to 8,000 on a good year.  The center only saw about nine motor coaches between May 30 and Sept. 1.  So not having tons of money to decorate about 4,000 sq. feet, we decided to showcase the talents of our local quilters.

     Long story short, our visitation now is about 48,000 to 50,000 people per season.  The quilt show has been a huge success in that it has brought many people in, and the quilters can sell their quilts if they so choose.  In 2010 over 94 quilts were shipped all over the world.  94 Bear Lake families had money to pay bills.  It is an honor to be involved with the great quilt artists of the Bear Lake Valley.

OREGON TRAIL CENTER PREPARING FOR HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR

     The National Oregon/California Trail Center is more than a historical interpretative center.  Our center also is the community gathering spot.  In the Bear Lake Valley there are two times a year when all come home and visit family.

    The first time is the 4th of July parade in Paris, Idaho.  This is our summer gathering time.  Our winter gathering time is the Oregon Trail Holiday Craft Fair.  We always hold it the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Many vendors come and sell their wares.

     

      Decorating starts about the second week in November.  We are a non profit organization and so we use what is available to us to decorate with.  Our board president Al Harrison owns land that must be clear cut for a cabin and he donates 25 live Christmas trees to the center to decorate with.

     Staff and volunteers painstakingly decorate the windows with festive paintings.  The whole center changes for the holiday season.  More to come........

THINGS ARE A CHANGING ON THE OLD OREGON TRAIL

Things and seasons are changing here on the Oregon Trail, in Montpelier, Idaho,  This past weekend it has been in the high 60's which is warmer than normal for October.  It has made it nice to complete all the outside projects that need wrapping up for the winter.

The golden days of summer have passed so quickly.  It seems like yesterday that graduation and Memorial Day Celebrations were upon us.

Tonight the Rocky Mountains are to get their first official blizzard.  The picture above is what our area looks like during winter.  No wonder the pioneers moved on to Oregon!

CAN I STILL SEE THE OREGON TRAIL TODAY?

Many travelers want to touch and feel the Oregon Trail today.  They will often ask where they can so this.  Below are some ideas and pictures to help anyone who would like to retrace the footsteps of the Oregon/California Trail Pioneers.

The Oregon California Trails Association has marked all of the existing Oregon/California Trail with the markets pictured above.

Another sign to look for are the Historical Scenic Byway signs.  This is what they look like in our Bear Lake Valley.  When you pick up the brochures that have this logo on them, they will offer historical verbiage about  historical points along your route.

Above are some of the most famous, and vivid ruts still in existence today.  These ruts are found in Guernsey, Wyoming.   They are worn in solid rock.  They are not to be missed as you can actually walk these ruts and touch and feel the trail.

More often than not the ruts pictured above are the ones you will see along most highways today.  They are visible to the naked eye.  Thanks to the hard work and efforts of the Oregon California Trails Association you will know you are on the right trail if you be sure to look for the markers in the first picture of this blog.

Happy Trail Hunting!