Remember When?

30 YEARS AGO

SEPTEMBER 20, 1990

PONY EXPRESS

TO RIDE, RUN, AGAIN

Plans for Saturday’s 1890s Days CELEBRATION, SPONSORED BY THE Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce, are firming up, according to organizer Heather Saint. Activities planned include a parade, Calcutta Auction, Pony Express Relay Race, arts and crafts sold in the Montana Power Park and on Main St., culminating with a street dance.

The day will begin with “breakfast sandwiches” served by Kathleen Pavlik and Sandy Doster in the park, where the Thompson Falls High School Band will be providing music throughout the day.

A parade is to wend its way through downtown starting at noon.

A Calcutta Auction is set to get underway at the corner of Mill and Main St. at 1:30 p.m., at which all teams entered in the Pony Express Race will be sold to the highest bidder. According to Auctioneer Walt Haynes, each team will be sold only once, buyers may purchase more than one team. Haynes said 20 percent of the total wagers will be deducted for use by the Thompson Falls Chamber for community activities and 80 percent will be awarded as prizes. As of Tuesday, three local teams had signed up. Granny’s Ghostriders, Flatiron Flatlanders and Bruce’s Druggists, and it was expected they would be joined by more teams from out of town. The race is to cover a 12-mile course and include running, cycling, horseback riding, and canoeing, starting from the Montana Power Park, traveling east on Main St. to the Airport Rd., down the river to Wild Goose Landing Park, returning to Montana Power Park via Main St.

A variety of crafts and foods will be offered for sale at the Montana Power Park throughout the day, including homemade pie by the ladies of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, The Whitepine 4-Hers will be selling snocones, popcorn and cotton candy in the park, and they have also volunteered to do the cleanup as part of their community service. Barbecues are planned at Mother Lode Casino and the Lonesome Dove restaurant on Main St. as part of the day’s activities.

The day will end with a street dance by Forever Country, who promised they will provide plenty of country swing and old rock music. The dance will be held in the new city parking lot.

FOREST SERVICE MULE TEAM KNOWS A HARD DAY’S WORK

The U.S. Forest Service Northern Region Pack Mule Train may be best known for its show appearances across the west (they’ll be appearing in the Rose Parade in January), but a recent outing on the Trout Creek National Recreation Trail showed that the nine animals also know how to put in a day’s work.

Lead Packer Cal Samsel says the pack train, the only one of its kind in the country, is on the road from St. Patrick’s Day until mid-November. The men and mules are kept busy with shows, educational programs and hard work. The mule string was in Trout Creek at the request of Cabinet Ranger District Resource Forester Bill “Rocky” Rockwell. Brush and timber growth across hundreds of miles of forest trails requires yearly attention, and Rocky says having the mules pack in supplies and equipment helps to increase trail maintenance effectiveness

“To keep the Trout Creek National Recreation Trail maintained is tough on foot. With the mules you can get twice as much work done,” Rocky says. But even having the mules for four days was not enough time to clear the entire 22-mile trail. Rocky says the mules will be back again next spring for another workout.

This summer, for Rocky’s eight-person trail crew, the mule train packed in supplies which included saws, tents, sleeping bags, water and most importantly, food. According to Samsel, “if you have poor food, the morale drops. If you have good grub, you can do all kinds of work.”

The mule string currently splits its time between work and shows, but Samsel says next year they plan to concentrate more on work trips.

Samsel has been packing for 42 years and his help for the Trout Creek trip was retired packer Bill Reynolds with 45 years’ experience. Samsel says it’s volunteers like Reynolds that make the program work.