OCR Text |
Show by JOANNE HINKEL Photos by Fred Orcutt Counting in Sheep Ketchum Sheep get the right of way Peacefully munching grass in downtown Ketchum, Idaho, the stars of the annual Trailing of the Sheep Parade await their big moment, celebration. the capstone event of a three-da- y Street hushes as a local Main crowd The on A blesses the sheep. minister Boy Scout honor guard proudly leads off, followed by horse-draw- n Scotsheep wagons, Basque dancers, and kilt-cla- d tish bagpipers all of which are etched into the fabric of Ketchum (pop. 3,003). Behind them come hundreds of sheep, managed by herders and three or four working dogs. As the parade passes downtown shops and restaurants, adults and children join the procession, trailing behind the sheep. It isnt Spain's running of the bulls," but the event is just as significant to local history. Every fall for nearly 100 years, shepherds in the region have been driving their sheep through Ketchum, moving their herds from summer pastures in the mountains through Snake River Valley to milder lowland areas for winter grazing and lambing in Ketchum in the Snake River plain. The three-da- y Trailing of the Sheep festival celebrates this tradition. In keeping with the regions multicultural background, Basque, Scottish, and Peruvian folk artists provide music and dance throughout the festival. Basques the area's earliest sheepherders are still influential throughout Idaho, comprising the largest Basque population outside of Spain. Scots also developed some of the biggest and longest-runnin- g sheep operations in the area, while Peruvians provide most of the current herding. Ketchum was founded in 1880 as a shipping and smelting center for mines of the Wood River Valley and soon was one of the richest mining districts in the Northwest. As the min-in- g boom wound down 10 one day a year, underscoring their importance. Townspeople and tourists wallow in sheep shearing, wool spinning, camp cooking, and sheep arts & crafts. Kiosks offer woolen goods, birdhouse sheep wagons, even sheep for" hand lotion. Children clamber into historic sheep wagons, canvas-and-wo- covered wagons compactly designed with beds, kitchens, and dining rooms, which once served as temporary shelter for shep- herds. Archie England, 85, greets visitors from inside a wagon he rebuilt in 1988. I've worked with sheep and cattle off and on for 75 years, he says. I left home when I was 13 to break broncs, and Ive been working ever since. After a Saturday night spent swapping tales and dancing to Basque music at the Sheepherders Ball in Ketchum, the festivals highlight the Trailing Shearing sheep at the folklife fair. of the Sheep Parade moves out years later, Basque sheepherders moved into the summer grazing lands in the Sawat noon on Sunday. Hundreds of sheep trundle tooth, Boulder, and Pioneer mountains. By 1920, through town, before heading south through the Ketchum was the largest sheep and lamb shipping tradition now valley replicating the station in the United States, second in the world nearly a century old. only to Sydney, Australia. Today, Ketchum is best known as the gateway Joanne Hinkel is a freelance uriter from Boise, Idaho. to Sun Valley, the ski resort, which began attracting tourists when the Union Pacific Railroad steamed through in 1935. V d The area is now a resort and recreation area but has kept its Western pioneer charm, along with its ranching and mining legacy. After the sheep Ketchum and Hailey are in south-centr- al festival opens on an October Friday, with sheep Idaho, approximately 170 poetry readings and music, festivities move south to miles east of Boise. Hailey (pop. 6,200) for Saturday's Sheep Folklife Fair. time-honor- ed year-roun- GETTING THERE... Parading bagpipers uphold Ketchum's Scottish influence. Page 8 American Profile |