BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT OR-038-2015-10
For release: Immediate Release
Contact: Sarah LeCompte
(541) 523-1843
Pioneer Wagon Encampment at Oregon Trail Center!
Baker City, Ore. -- The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center will be re-enacting an
Oregon Trail Pioneer Wagon Encampment on September 5 to 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Located outdoors in a circle of replica covered wagons, historical re-enactors cook meals over open
fires, and offer samples of the types of food pioneers ate on the trail. Dressed in clothing
representative of the 1850s, and using tools and materials of the time, interpreters demonstrate a
variety of trade skills, technology, and everyday activities used six or more generations back.
Visitors can see blacksmithing, leather work, laundry and sewing, and black powder shooting.
Interpreters will represent all ages and occupations typical of a wagon train.
Some of the activities are interactive, and some are especially planned for families and children –
including pioneer era games, school, and dancing.
Many of the interpreters are staff and volunteers of the Interpretive Center, and special guests will
bring additional skills. Sheryl Curtis brings her team of oxen and demonstrates the work of a
teamster. Blacksmith Peter Clark will forge iron using an outdoor setup that might have been seen at
a frontier fur post or fort. Musician Hank Cramer will join the wagon train on Saturday, and present
the important role that music played in keeping up the spirits of pioneers as they trekked west.
The special exhibit “Cargo for a Continental Crossing” will be open in the Flagstaff Gallery.
The Trail Center is located five miles east of Baker City, Oregon on Highway 86. Take Exit 302
from I-84. The Center is currently open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $8.00; for
seniors it’s $4.50; children 15 and under are admitted for free. Federal passes are accepted. Call
(541) 523-1843 for updates on programs and events. For more information about the Trail Center
visit oregontrail.blm.gov
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the
National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700
million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public
lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In
Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.
-BLM-