Trailblazer Days coming to town

Trailblazer Days – Opening the Last Frontier is an America 250 celebration honoring our place in history of this great nation. We will twist back in time when accessing the Big Horn Basin was incredibly difficult. Due to the rough terrain of high mountains and deep canyons, supplying freight and supplies to the new settlement of Thermopolis was slow and dangerous. The teamsters had to be as tough as the landscape which honed their tenacity, courage and skill.

Our local legacy story of Henry Johnson, also known as 16-Mule Team Johnson, is a grand example of how much effort, strength and grit it took to be a pioneer on the frontier. To survive and thrive, settlers collaborated efforts and worked toward the common goal of a building a sustainable community. They would not have achieved it without the building materials, equipment and goods that 16-Mule Team Johnson, along with several others, delivered to the remote settlement. When the town founders were mapping out the streets of Thermopolis, Johnson requested the streets be wide enough for him to turn his 16-Mule Team around.

Trailblazer Days will honor 16-Mule Team Johnson by recreating his grand presence on the historic streets of Thermopolis. No doubt, when Johnson pulled into town back in the day, everyone stopped to watch him masterfully navigate his well-trained mule team. We will relive that unique experience on Saturday morning during the 16-Mule Johnson Parade.

The celebration kicks off on Friday at the Hot Springs County Fairgrounds with a Dave Stamey Dinner Show which has sold out, but there is a waiting list for any tickets that become available. An authentic trailblazer dinner starts at 4 p.m. Stamey takes the stage at 6 p.m. Intermission will feature cowboy poet and humorist, Andy Nelson. The evening slides forward with music provided by local musician, Keith O’Brien, as he plays for a dessert dance.

Saturday morning starts at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the fair building hosted by Hot Springs County Historical Society. After breakfast, head downtown for the 16-Mule Johnson Parade. This non-motorized parade will show off beautiful wagons and buggies pulled by handsome teams of horses and mules. Follow their lead to the Hot Springs County Fairgrounds where western fun continues. You can sign up at the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce at 220 Park St. or call 864-3192.

There will be a hands-on demonstration in the arena by Mule Skinner Rick Endey, who will explain the intricate details of driving a Big Hitch. Take a stroll around the fairgrounds and enjoy an antique wagon display, sheepwagons, live music, chuckwagon demonstrations with samples, food trucks and a beer garden and so much more.

Saturday afternoon you will want to meander to the Hot Springs County Museum and catch a bus ride to the Henry Johnson Homestead where family members will share stories of the legendary freighter. Returning to the museum, there will be a delicious Milk-Can Dinner and drinks available at the famous Hole-in-the-Wall Bar where outlaws used to wet their whistle. A rare opportunity to view an original wedding photo of outlaws, Sundance Kid and Etta Place; one of only three in existence. Local Historians will be on hand to share spectacular stories of the early days. Special Guest Andy Nelson, cowboy poet will be delighting the crowd. Live entertainment throughout the day.

Sunday events will feature and honor the Native Americans and buffalo who were our original trailblazers. Their presence and their generous gifts to our community and state continue to define us today. The morning will begin at 8 a.m. with a bus trip along the vast expanse of the Wind River Reservation, which covers 245,324 acres within the boundaries of Hot Springs County. The journey will include a stop at the Arapaho Ranch, originally established in 1867 as a sheep ranch and later purchased by the Northern Arapaho tribe in 1940. The final stop of the morning will be an interpretive tour of Legend Rock State Petroglyph Site. Sunday afternoon a buffalo burger community feed will be put on at Hot Springs State Park at 1 p.m. in the Washakie Shelter.

From 2-4 p.m. The Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative will lead an educational program at the park pavilion. Their presentation, Restoring Our Connection with the Buffalo, will highlight the initiative’s mission to restore conservation buffalo.

Other guests will speak about Hot Springs State Park history and the gift of the waters to our community by our native neighbors, the legacy of our own buffalo herd and the importance of the buffalo to our past, present and future.