On Labor Day weekend 2024, 14 students and nine instructors worked together to learn and refine their skills as rawhide braiders. It was held during the 88th annual Evanston Cowboy Days Celebration in Evanston, Wyoming. Sponsored by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund in conjunction with the Culture Conservation Corps and…

From May 25th to October 15th, 2024, the Bear River Heritage Area is holding a quilt show showcasing the culture and history of Southeast Idaho at the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho. Sponsored by the Idaho Humanities Council, this exhibit focuses on quilters from the Oneida, Franklin, Bear…

On February 10, 2024, 3 couples participated in a unique Valentine's Day activity. They worked together to create a metal rose at the Shadow Mountain Forge in Collinston, Utah, as part of a 3-hour class. The fruit of their labor: a rose that will never wilt. Daurie and Brigham Kindell…

On November 4, 2023, around 400 volunteers gathered at the Bear River Massacre Site in Franklin County, Idaho. They came together to help restore the natural habitat of the site by planting native trees. The entire land restoration is named Wuda Ogwa, which in Shoshone means Bear River. Volunteers working…

On Labor Day weekend 2023, five students came together in Evanston, Wyoming, to learn the art of saddle making. Sponsored by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund in conjunction with the Culture Conservation Corps and the Bear River Heritage Area, this three-day symposium focused on providing supplies and knowledge to local…

Good Clean Fun! Legend has it that ancient peoples discovered soap when fat from animals and lye from ashes made their way down to a nearby stream during ritualistic sacrifices. The potential apocryphal nature of this primeval legend aside, one can experience the primordial indulgence of an ancient art form…

…And A Handshake Agreement   Each season, Rancher Jay Wilde walks the country side putting up, taking down and repairing twenty miles of fencing on the Diamondback W Ranch in Mink Creek, Idaho, the summer range for his cow-calf operation. In 1995 after having been gone for twenty years, Jay returned…

“Where the Fish are Always Biting!”   Leland Barker’s tan, lean figure attests to the fact that a diet of lots of fresh vegetables and locally raised mountain trout contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Just four years ago, he added the sport of tennis to his already busy life as…

By Bear River Heritage Area intern, David Giles On the northeast corner of Center Street and First East in downtown Logan, Utah, stands an old, wood-clad building painted white. There’s no sign to name it; the only clue to its identity is the old, broken neon lighting that reads, in…