10 Sep
Busy day here. Stop #1 was the Riverton Farmer's Market, just a few blocks from here in City Hall parking lot. It was not huge, but Doreen picked out some produce including some sweet corn, fresh tomatoes and some peaches. We had a couple ears of corn and a tomato for supper and they tasted really good
From there we headed to Stop #2 which was the Riverton Museum, but it was closed today because of a special bicycling event elsewhere. We will miss this one as they are closed on Sundays and we depart Monday morning.
Stop #3 was the Wind River Heritage Center. This museum focuses on fur trading, western exploration, Plains Indians and early settlement history.
It features life-like displays of the Jake Korell Wildlife Collection and an extensive collection of traps dating back to 1804. His stuffed animal collection features big game species, predators, and fur-bearers of many types. In the back room is a huge wax museum with dioramas starting with a Indian on horseback hunting bison. Outside there is an extensive display of antique farm equipment.
This side of the museum is a Quonset hut. The connected building houses the wax museum.
Female western diamondback rattlesnake
Brutus, a 14 year old, 720 lb Grizzly
His extensive collection of arrow heads
You had to look closely to see all the small critters including the trout
Bullwinkle!
This gentleman is Trapper Jake Korell, the inspiration for this museum. He was considered a modern day mountain man. He started trapping moles at the age of seven and skunks at nine. As the story goes, he was kicked out of the third grade due to the smell! His life was lived farming, ranching, trapping and hunting. At the age of 98-1/2, Jake caught over 100 coyotes, several fox, raccoon, badger and bobcats that year. Jake passed away in 2013 and this museum is his legacy.
The museum contains hundreds of different traps Jake collected over the years.
An English Man Trap, used by English land barons to discourage poaching of the baron's game.
They were outlawed in 1850!.
A collection of authentic saddles of all types.
From the main museum we moved into the wax museum and were greeted by Sacagawea, the young Shoshone woman who, in 1804, was chosen by the Lewis and Clark Expedition to help them as a translator as well as liaison with the Native Americans the expedition encountered along the way.
The "Rendezvous" - Indians, trappers and explorers could replenish their supplies every year without a major journey to the Hudson bay or St Louis. The traders transported foods west in early June, conducted the trade fair, or "Rendezvous" and then transported furs and hides they traded for back to St Louis and eventually they went to Europe or Asia.
Rendezvous sites
There was an expedition in 1988 and 1989 to recreate the "Rendezvous" and retrace the route of William Ashley from Henry's Fork to DSt Louisin this replica canoe, built to specification. Those men and women were dressed in costume and transported materials as would have been back in 1825
The museum would not be complete without a "jackalope"!
We finished up at the museum and then headed south and west from Riverton to Fort
Washakie to visit the Sacag(j)awea Cemetery, Stop #4 today.
This is the monument. We did not walk into the actual cemetery to view the gravestone as there was a burial happening at the same time.
The sand dollar in her hand is significant, as it was given to Chief Washakie.
He wore it with honor in many historical pictures.
Various offerings at the feet of Sacagawea
The actual location of her burial is controversial. Many recorded documents and statements made by descendants, officials at Fort Washakie, and by the Federal Government record her death and burial place at the Sacajawea Cemetery, Fort Washakie, Wyoming in 1884.
From here we headed back to Riverton and stopped by "The Depot" Mexican restaurant. It is located in the old train depot building. Interesting, Riverton was named because of the four rivers that meet here. It lies along the Bighorn River at the mouth of the Wind River. Founded as Wadsworth in 1906, it was renamed Riverton because of its location near the convergence of four rivers. Riverton is adjacent to the Wind River Indian (Shoshone and Arapaho) Reservation.
After our delicious lunch we drove a short distance to the RV park and watched the Iowa vs Iowa State football game. The game was not that exciting but things got exciting in the fourth quarter when Doreen looked outside and we had a small herd of horses that were grazing just outside our RV! They actually live right across the street and the owners came over quickly and herded them back to their pasture. What beautiful creatures!
If that was not enough excitment, and ambulance pulled in a couple sites down! No, the emergency lights were not on. Actually they had been disabled. This was an old Medtec ambulance from Chicago that had been recently converted into an RV! The owner is not completely done with it and this is the maiden voyage! I had quite a discussion with him about it since I spent 25 years on the fire department and most of them also as an Emergency Medical Technician riding around in the back of an ambulance not too much different than that one!
That's it for today. No big plans for tomorrow as it is Sunday and many of the venues are closed.
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