Museum

On a little adventure to Wyoming: National Historic Trails Interpretive Center; Casper, Wyoming

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“Some men walked with whips to drive the team of animals puilling the wagon or to herd the stock. Many emigrants brought with them sheep, pigs, and cows to provide fresh meat and milk during the long journey.”

We hear of the Tiny House movement now but never think how the pioneers had to weed out all the unnecessary items of their former life for a life of hardship on the 2,170-mile (3,490 km) journey that lasted approximately 4 to 6 months and if started in the wrong season, longer. These men, women and children not only carried their personal belongings in their wagon or cart but also food and wagon parts. There were not many stores or trading posts along the perilous route. Most had no room in the wagons to sleep so they slept on the ground under the wagons or in tents.

According to the 1863 handbook “The Prairie Traveler” by Captain Randolph B. Marcy they should carry: Wrought Iron camp kettle, large enough for boiling meat and making soup; a coffee pot and cups of heavy tin, with the handles riveted on; tin plates; frying and bake pans of wrought iron, the latter for baking bread and roasting coffee; a pan of heavy tin or wrought iron for mixing bread and other culinary purposes; knives, forks and spoons; an extra camp kettle; tin or gutta percha (gum tree) bucket for water – wood being liable to shrink and fail to pieces is not deemed suitable; an axe; hatchet; a spade, mallet and matches; extra parts for the wagons such as covered tar buckets for tar, resin and grease; two bows, six “S”-hooks; a king bolt and wagon other supplies.

“When you start over these wide plains, let no one leave dependent on his friend for anything; for if you do, you will certainly have a blow-out before you get far.” – John Shively, 1846

The Westward Pioneer Trails in the north consisted of the Oregon, Mormon, California and Pony Express Routes which passed through Casper, Wyoming on their way west. Casper had in place a military presence at a garrison , a trading post and some settlers. At this point settlers heading to California and Oregon had only completed one third of their journey, while the Mormons bound for Salt Lake City, Utah had completed half of theirs. But crossing the Platt River at this location they faced a perilous crossing either by fording the river and possibly losing their wagon and animals or by paying as much as $5 per wagon to cross by ferry or bridge, a fortune back in the mid 1800’s.

Visiting this 11,000 S.F. (1,000 m2) Museum you will be able to discover what life was like on the Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express Trails that brought settlers to the west coast in covered wagons and hand pulled carts. With 8 galleries, temporary exhibits and an 18-minute multimedia film, “Footsteps to the West” that explains the trials and tribulations of life along the trail in the theater. 

Allow 1-2 hours to understand what hardships these pioneers faced. The museum contains hands on exhibits for all ages:

you can sit in a covered wagon as it bounces across a river; 

pull a loaded Mormon Cart to see how difficult it was; 

Mormon Handcart

sit in a replica stagecoach; feel how heavy a backpack loaded with supplies that the pioneers carried as they walked across the plains on foot;

determine what is needed for the journey west;

see how they calculated miles;

Learn a bit of the native cultures and their way of life on the prairie;

 See the medicines that were taken on the trail;

And many more hands-on displays that capture the real-life adventure of over 400,000 settlers between 1841 and 1868.

Opening August 9, 2002 and operated by the Bureau of Land Management it was a joint private and public partnership with the BLM, the National Historic Trails Foundation and the City of Casper, Wyoming commemorating Native American History, early explorers and the Trails corridors.

This is a free museum to enter but I highly recommend if you enjoy your visit please leave a donation at the entry to help offset the cost of maintenance and for future upgrades. I found staff and volunteers were all helpful and friendly on the day of my visit. Take the time to talk to them, they have knowledge of the area and local events. If you are interested in local and early American History this is a nice place to visit.

On a little adventure to Wyoming: FOSSIL BUTTE NATIONAL MONUMENT

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On my way there I had 2 mornings of glorious sunrises to greet me on my drive from Washington State to Wyoming.

Managed by the National Park Service, Fossil Butte National Monument, was established on October 23 1972 and is located in southwest Wyoming. This monument holds one of the largest deposits of freshwater fish fossils in the world from the Eocene Epoch, 34 to 56 million years ago. In prehistoric times, this part of Wyoming was a sub-tropical lake ecosystem with calm waters, lack of scavengers and a fine sediment that all worked together to create conditions perfect for preserving fossils from the Cenozoic aquatic communities of North America.

For over the two million years Fossil Lake covered an area of 40 to 50 miles (64 to 80 k) long north to south and 20 miles (32 k) wide of southwest Wyoming. Today less than 1.5% of Fossil Lake is protected and managed by the National Park Service. Fossil Butte National Monument promotes the protection of this world-class archeological heritage. The Monument contains only 8,198 acres (33,180,000 m2) of the 595,200 acres (2.409×109 m2) of ancient lakebed. The Green River Formation’s ancient subtropical freshwater lake bed preserved 27 species of fish, 2 bat species,10 mammal species,15 species of reptiles that include turtles, lizards, crocodilians, and snakes, 2 extremely rare amphibian species have been identified, insects including spiders, dragonflies and damselflies, crickets’ stoneflies, true bugs, beetles, wasps, bees, ants, moths, butterflies and flies and plants. As major indicators of climate, plants are allowing scientists to study the ancient ecology of the Fossil Lake area. 

When fossils were discovered, coal miners in the area dug them up and sold them to collectors. Commercial and private fossil collecting is not allowed within the National Monument, although private quarries nearby continue to produce fossil specimens, both for museums and for private collectors.

There are over 80 fossils and casts on display in the Monument’s Visitor Center and a 13-minute video showing how fossils are found and what has been learned along with interactive exhibits. During the summer, lab personnel prepare fossils in public. Summer activities also include ranger programs, hikes, paleontology and geology talks, and participation in fossil quarry collections for the park. 

The base of Fossil Butte is defined by the bright red, purple, yellow and gray beds of the Wasatch Formation. Eroded portions of these horizontal beds slope gradually upward from the valley floor and steepen abruptly. Overlying them and extending to the top of the butte are the much steeper buff-to-white beds of the Green River Formation, which are about 300 feet thick. 

Quarry programs take place Fridays and Saturdays mid-June through late August between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you wish to learn about the research and help search for fossils, meet at the Nature Trail and hike a half mile (0.8 k) to the quarry. All fossils found during the program are collected and contributed to the site’s scientific research.

There are several maintained hiking trails less than 3-miles (4.8k) long and two-track dirt roads (closed to vehicles) that spur off Scenic Drive. Scenic Drive is paved until the Nature Trail then it becomes a dirt/gravel road continuing to the north boundary of the Monument. All hikes allow visitors to take in the site’s unique landscape and geological features. Remember if fossils are discovered do not disturb them and inform a ranger as to the location, so that a qualified team can investigate and determine how to handle the fossil.

New Years trip to Washington – Part 5

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We take a day to rest, clean and organize our things from the adventure at Tillamook State Forest then decide to head north from Vancouver, WA for a day trip to Battleground Lake to enjoy the nature surrounding it. Being winter it is raining off-and-on today, so we go down to the lakeshore so my grandson can have some fun trying to fill the lake with rocks he finds on the shoreline. This is something he really enjoys, he has thrown rocks at Mt Adams, into the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park and now here. Kids are so funny how they entertain themselves. We discussed hiking the trail that goes around the lake but decided that with the rain it would just be a slick mess.

 

 

Cedar Creek Grist MIll and Cedar Creek
Cedar Creek Grist Mill and bi-pass overflow falls.

After our short stay at the lake we head to The Cedar Creek Grist Mill just outside Etna south of the Lewis River along scenic Cedar Creek. A gristmill grinds grain into flour using nature’s forces, usually water being run by a water wheel. The first water-powered mill was reported around 71 BC in Asia Minor. Grain mills in England were counted in the 1086 Domesday Survey In England, which stated there were 5,624, or about one for every 300 inhabitants that year, peaking to 17,000 by 1300.

Cedar Creek Grist Mill is a working museum allowing visitors inside to observe the workings of the mill built in 1876. Samples are given to visitors after the tour of the facility. This is a totally nature driven mill using the water flowing through a plumb to a Leffel turbine installed with its flume (water canal) around 1888. Pulleys, and belts turn the milling stone producing flour, corn meal and sometimes apple cider.

 

 

Flume and Cedar Creek
Flume and Cedar Creek
Flume and Cedar Creek
Flume and Cedar Creek
Flume and Cedar Creek
Leffel turbine
Leffel turbine

Resting on a steep and rocky slope in the narrow gorge of Cedar Creek, it is the only gristmill in Washington that still maintains its original structure, mills with stones, and is water powered, this is also the oldest building in Washington State still producing its original product.

 

 

Debri along the creek
some of the lush ferns along the creek
Tossing rocks into Cedar Creek

The last owner died in the late 1950’s and the property was bought by The State Fisheries Department in 1961 that removed the old dam and built a fish ladder. The Fort Vancouver Historical Society leased the mill in 1961 and had it registered as a National Historical Place.

Time, weather and vandals took its toll by 1980. “The Friends of the Cedar Creek Grist Mill”, a non-profit corporation, was formed to save the old mill. Using period tools consisting of axes and adzes they replaced the damaged posts and beams. Due to a dam removal in 1961 they had to now get water into the mill, extending the flume 650 feet where the water from the creek could flow into the intake without the dam.

Next to the mill is a covered bridge across Cedar Creek. There is no history on the first bridge although it was completely replaced by a truss bridge in 1935. The 1935 bridge could not support heavy loads, so in 1994 a new covered bridge spanning Cedar Creek was built.

 

 

1994 covered truss bridge
Standing on the covered bridge

Sadly it was closed on this weekday right after the holiday but peeking in the windows demands a return visit when it is open.

2017 in review quite a better year

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2016 was just a total joke of a year and I was glad it was over, 2017 has been much better and full of adventures.

January started off recuperating from an sudden illness that happened in mid-December and during this time I started planning a trip up to Vancouver, WA the end of February to visit family and purchase my new adventure vehicle, a 2017 Subaru Outback.

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Orange Empire Railraod Museum

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A few weeks ago my grandson and I visited the Orange Empire Railway Museum (LINK) when the annual Steampunk fair was being held. This non-profit museum opened in 1956 to preserve Southern California’s railway history that dates from the 1870’s. With over 200 historic railway locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars, streetcars, interurban electric cars, buildings, and other artifacts from Los Angeles and the West, the 90-acre site in Perris, California is open to the public every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas (check site for current opening days, times and special events).

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Chesters Fort and Hadrian’s Wall

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Chesters Fort Rendering from the south

After the morning wandering and exploring Beamish we drove approximately 30 miles to visit Chesters Fort (LINK) a part of Hadrian’s Wall (LINK). Driving along beautiful countryside we had to have the car disinfected for Foot and Mouth. Arriving at the fort we visited the museum to learn the history of the wall and fort, then walked through disinfecting mats for our short walk to the fort.

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Welcome to Beamish – A Living Museum of Northeastern English Life

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Back in 2001 it was decided to visit England, Scotland and Wales and to delve into the history, architecture and culture of the country.  What we discovered was an excellent way to do this, Living Outdoor Museums. This was the first Living Open-Air museum that I had ever visited and it started a search for additional ones during all future travels in the USA and Europe. Visiting one gives you the experience and a real sense of the past as you discover what life was like. Within the different buildings there usually are actors in period dress demonstrating the daily life of the time being depicted, while answering questions you might have and explaining what it was like living in those times.

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Pompeii – The death of a city

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On a fateful August morning in 79 AD Pompeii (LINK), a Roman town-city near modern Naples, was totally destroyed and buried under a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius (LINK) killing around 3,000 people as the rest of the population had already fled before the eruption. A flood of ash and protoplasmic heated air rained down on the town for approximately 6 hours completely burying the town and its inhabitants in up to twelve layers of ash and debris up to 82 feet (25 meters) deep.

65

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Flam, Norway Railraod

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We leave  Copenhagen, Denmark on a cruise ship so we can see the Norwegian fjords in our vacation time frame. First port was Flam, Norway.

We scheduled an excursion on the Flam Railway to see the sights of the scenic Norway countryside.

The Flåm Railway has been named one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. The train runs 12.6 miles (20.2 kilometers) from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains to Myrdal Station. Along the journey are some beautifully stunning scenery of Norway.

In about an hour you go from sea level in Flåm to the Myrdal mountain station at 2,844 feet (867 metres) above sea level. In Myrdal you can connect to trains running between Bergen and Oslo.

The Flåm Railway is one of the steepest standard-gauge railway lines in the world, with 80% of the journey at a gradient of 5.5%. Along the trains route you see small villages and hamlets, beautiful mountainsides, foaming waterfalls and pass through 20 tunnels. It’s longest tunnel is the 4,401 foot (1,341.5-meter) long Nåli Tunnel.

The first engineering surveys for the Flåm Line were performed in 1893 with the plans approved by Parliament in 1916.  Construction started in 1924, with track laying starting in 1936 and the rail line finally opening for service in 1940. Of the 20 tunnels along the route only 2 used machines for digging, the rest were dug by hand.

 

Valley Community
Sognefjorden
River in valley
Access road for RR
Kjosfossen Falls
Waterfalls along Flam RR

 

Train at Flam RR Museeum

Train at Flam RR Museum

After the trip  we stop at the Flam Railway Museum to learn more of the history of the Flam Rail Line and how this rail line was constructed. The models, photos, illustrations, actual equipment and older train engines was a great way to understand how this rail line was built and used, the engineering and the hard labor that went into constructing this rail line.

Train at Flam RR Museeum
Wagon from Flam RR Museum
Cameras from Flam RR Museum
Tools from Flam RR Museum
Tools in Flam Rail Museum
Tools in Flam Rail Museum

After the museum it is time for walk around town, visit the tourist information center and a tourist souvenir shop next door with interesting nic-nacs. After our walk among the shelves, and a few laughs at some of the items for sale, we must stop at the local grocery store to pick up a few items to enjoy for snacking as they are not available on the ship. As it is getting close to the time for the ship to depart we head back to get ready for dinner with the 5 other couples at our assigned table.

Sitting down to dinner we all relate our days adventures and thoughts on Flam while enjoying the wonderful food and the scenery floating by outside the large windows of the Dining Room. We enjoyed the small town feel, the scenery on the Rail Journey and walking around town. This would be a town to stay in to enjoy for a couple of relaxing days exploring the local area with a vehicle or just hiking. Our table is one of the last to finish as we all are enjoying the company and conversation. I think we would all stay longer but there is another dinner service they must get ready for. As the others leave for their nightly adventures, it’s back up to Deck 10 for the evening walk enjoying the scenery as we sail away from Flam to our next destination Alesund, Norway.

Vigeland Museum and Frogner Park

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Vigeland Museum-8After we finish exploring Akershus Fortress we take the T-Bane over to the Vigeland Museum. This museum was the workplace and home to Gustav Vigeland, a Norwegian artist who negotiated free rent on this space for the future rights to his work with the government. This building houses his sculptures, woodcarvings, models, drawings, sketches and photographs of the artist through his years of work. His interesting sculptures are very modern and surreal which made for an interesting and thought provoking visit.

Vigeland was born in 1869 to a family of craftsmen and also designed the Nobel Peace Prize Medal. Vigeland moved to his new studio in Frogner Borough during 1924. His studio was located in the vicinity of Frogner Park, which he had chosen as the definitive location for his fountain. Over the following twenty years, Vigeland was devoted to the project of an open exhibition of his works, which later turned into the Vigeland Sculpture Arrangement in Frogner Park.  

Looking to the the Main Gate from the Plateau at Frogner Park

Looking to the the Main Gate from the Plateau

Right across the street from the museum is Frogner Park with the Vigeland Outdoor Sculpture Area.  We first stop at a corner 7-11 and pickup hot dogs, chips and drinks for a lunch in the park as not much else was open during the holiday. We join the thousands of other people enjoying the sunny holiday in the park while eating our picnic lunch. Frogner Park is the largest park in Oslo occupying a former manor house grounds of 80 acres. The park includes the Manor House and Vigeland Sculptural Exhibition area which houses 212 of his bronze and granite sculptures. There is no way we would be able to walk the entire park so we concentrate on the area between the museum, the Monolith Plateau, the Fountain and the Bridge which showcases Vigeland’s sculptures. What an enjoyable time exploring these sculptures and the park grounds. We cross the bridge, head to the T-Bane stop at the Main Gate on Kirkeveien and head back to our apartment after a glorious afternoon of walking.  This was the most crowded we saw the T-Bane during our time here and we had to wait for 2 trolleys before we were able board. Everyone was outside enjoying the weather and visiting with family and friends.

Such a wonderful day, Vigeland sculptures belong in a park. They are larger than life and make your mind explore the meaning behind them. A park for an afternoon stroll and picnic lunch in the beautiful sunshine.