Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Big Hitch

 

Every Labor Day weekend Ketchum, Idaho celebrates Wagon Days, in honor of the mining tradition in the Wood River Valley. The main event is Saturday’s Big Hitch Parade, the largest non-motorized parade in the west, with wagons, buggies and stagecoaches pulled by mules and horses. Although we aren’t big western fans, it was fun seeing all of the beautiful horses and what they were pulling behind them.

Patiently waiting for the parade to start.

P1050106

The Grand Marshall had her own special chariot.

DSC06104

Many local businesses and individuals participated.

P1050115

P1050133

DSC06106

P1050123

P1050146

P1050126

The funeral home with their hearse wagon.

P1050127

A trio of camels.

DSC06116

We felt a bit sorry for this miniature horse, but they were moving along a pretty good clip.

P1050139

Hillary even joined the Blaine County Democrats. Apparently over the last two decades Blaine County has gained a reputation as a Democratic enclave in strongly Republican Idaho.

DSC06114

This was evidenced by the Blaine County Republicans small showing in the parade. They are the three people on horseback to the left behind Buffy the white buffalo.

DSC06117

The EhCapa Bareback Riders.

DSC06126

And an Uber wagon.

DSC06129

DSC06130

A local school’s small marching band.

DSC06118

This guy on inline skates had the crappy job of scooping poop. He was good at it!

P1050128

The grand finale to the parade is the Lewis Ore Wagons being pulled by a 20 mule jerk line from Bishop, CA.

DSC06139

It took a lot of teamwork to get them around the corner. while keeping the wagons from tipping over.

DSC06143

DSC06144

These 14’ tall covered wagons were used to haul up to 18,00 pounds of ore down the narrow, steep trail from the mountains north of Ketchum, now known as trail Creek Rd, back in the late 1800s.

DSC06145

DSC06146

Jim shot a short video which you can see here if interested. We really enjoyed the parade, and followed it by beer and pizza with George and Tina at Wiseguy Pizza Pie. A fun afternoon!

10 comments:

  1. I wish I had seen it in person. thanks for posting the excitement.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love small town parades. This one would be awesome to see. The video is great. I can't believe how long that wagon trail is. I wonder how long those guys had to hold on. I think that first wagon was pulled by mules...Is that right. Pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a neat event! Love all those horses.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those mules act like they don't want to turn!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great parade! Nice to see something other than fire trucks:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. We watched a parade over the 4th of July in Livingston, MT but I have to say that this one looked more interesting. I especially enjoyed the Lewis Ore Wagons and Jim's video.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like a great parade. I was wondering who had the job of cleanup. On inline skates no less. The grand marshal's carriage looks like Cinderella's coach. Wonder where they keep all these great old wagons during the winters. We had two burros for many years, there is no way we could have convinced them to pull a Conestoga wagon. Really beautiful horses. I would really have enjoyed this parade lucky you to be there for it or did you plan it that way?

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great parade! It certainly had flair for a small town parade. The local high school didn't even make it as a small town band....more like ity bitty band!!

    ReplyDelete