The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, Oregon, will have two days of living history presentations for visitors over the Memorial Day Weekend at the “Meet the Pioneers” event.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24, volunteers and staff will demonstrate pioneer skills such as quilting, crafts, and food between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Visitors will be able to participate in typical frontier crafts such as Dutch oven cooking, gold panning, or making beeswax candles and rag dolls. Presentations by roving interpreters will portray mountain men and homesteading women with authentically outfitted re-enactors. Characters are based on thoroughly researched historical sources, and include real-life pioneers such as Joe Meek and Elizabeth Trullinger.
Storyteller, Karen Haas will perform three times daily in the Leo Adler Theater on May 22-24. Her programs are “Wagons West,” “Eliza Jane Meeker- Pioneer Memories & Future Dreams,” and “Narcissa Whitman.” Program times are 11 a.m., 12:30, and 2 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Wagons Ho! Experience the Oregon Trail” continues in the Flagstaff Gallery. This special exhibit uses costumes, life-size games, puppets, and a full-scale packable pioneer wagon for youngsters to learn about Oregon heritage and the frontier adventure. All hiking trails at the Interpretive Center are open. Conditions are excellent for bird watching, wildflower sighting and picnicking, taking the self-guided geology walk or the Trail Tender shuttle tour.
The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is located east of Baker City, Oregon. Take Exit 302 from Interstate-84 onto Oregon Highway 86 and proceed five miles. The Center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $8; seniors are $4.50; children 15 and under are free. Federal passes are accepted.
Visit oregontrail.blm.gov for more information about the Center or call (541)523-1843 for an update on programs and events. For information on other events in Baker County, Oregon, call (800)523-1235.
