Elko District Office
| Contacts: | Lesli Ellis | , 775-753-0386 | , lellis@blm.gov |
California Trail Days This Weekend
ELKO, Nev. - The 9th annual California Trail Days this Saturday and Sunday is a free fun family event and will be bigger than ever before and feature more costumed presenters, more trail crafts, more stories of the emigrants’ triumphs and tribulations, more live animals, and the recently completed permanent exhibits of the California Trail Interpretive Center.
Prior to the start of California Trail Days is the much anticipated Grand Opening of year-round operations of the California Trail Interpretive Center at 10 a.m., June 2. For a sneak peek at the new exhibits, visit our Flickr page bit.ly/KOG1Lg.
The theme of this year’s California Trail Days is Commerce on the Trail, and will include two featured speakers – John Luzader and Steve Beck.
Luzader is one of the foremost experts on living history and recipient of the National Association for Interpretation’s prestigious Fellow Award for Interpretation. He will present two programs, “The Language of Trade: Indian Sign Language” at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and “The World in a Trunk: Trade Goods of the American West” at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Beck, Director of Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, will present “A New Life at the End of the Trail” at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and illuminates the vital role John Sutter played in developing commerce in California and helping weary emigrants establish a new life in the West.
Other attractions include Bull Whackin’ Kass and her team of live oxen, horse-drawn wagon rides, pony express demonstrations, black powder firearms demonstrations, the newly-completed Western Shoshone Camp, live gold-rush era music, blacksmithing, and much, much more.
The California Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is located eight miles west of Elko, at Hunter exit 292. The California Trail Interpretive Center will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on June 2 and 3 during California Trail Days and then open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. seven days a week starting Thursday, June 7. Visit www.blm.gov/cv5c, elkotraildays.com, our Facebook page or call (775) 738-1849 for more information.
View the Trail Days schedule here.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Elko District Office 3900 E. Idaho St. Elko, NV 89801