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Show ' . . T-- ; .v ' "Vr .1; by JOANNE HINKEL . '; ;V- Photos by Fitd Orcutr 4 in Ketchum Ihaip gat tha right of way Peacefully munching grass in ciowntownKctchiun, Idaho, thenars of the annual Trailing of the Sheep Parade nvait theit big moment, celebration. ,the capstone event of a three-da-y The crowd on Main Street hushes at a local minister blesses the sheep. A 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 isn't Spun's running of the bulls," but the event is just at significant ; ; to local history.. , Every fall for nearly 1Q0 years, shepherds in the region have been driving their sheep through ; Ketchum, moving their herds foom summer pastures in the mountains through Snake Rivet Valley to : milder lowland areas for winter grazing and lambing . . . . . J Page t American Profile camras-and-wo- od ng - . i r'' I Ittl3- . - American. Profile Paga . in die Snake River plain. The three-da- y Trailing' of . Townspeople mid tourists wallow in sheep shearing, wool spinning, camp the Sheep festival celcbtates. this tradition. aking, and sheep arts & crafts. In keeping with die region's multicultural back- - Kiosks offor woolen goods, birdhouse sheep wagons. even sheep fet hand lotion. ground, Basque,' Scottish, and Peruvian folk artists provide, rhiiwidmilve iwn hivnfir ' music and dance throughout sheep wagons, the festival.. Basques the areas .covered wagons compactly earliest sheephcrders are still designed with beds, kitriiens, and influential throughout Idaho,: dining rooms, which once served as temporary shelter for shep-herd-s. comprising tbe largest Basque! Archie England, 85, greets population outside of Spain. Scots also developed some of visitors from inside a wagon he the biggest and longest-runnitebuilt in 1988. .1. -I've worked with sheep and sheep operations in the area, whik Peruvians provide most of catticoff and on for 75 yeara,"he 1! the current herding. H botne when "5 "iVf I SS'5Ketchum was founded jn ' to break broncs, and I've been ' 1880 as a shipping and smelting .' working ever since. : center for mines of the Wood After it Saturday nighrtpenr " River Valley and soon was one swapping rides and danting to . ' of the richest ' ' mining districts Basque music at the Sheep- in the Northwest. As the minherders Ball in Ketchum, the ' boom wound down 1(1 festival s highlight the Trailing ing MR HINp K Blf cf the Sheep Parade moves out yean later; Basque sheephetden moved into the summer grazing lands in the Svt at noon on Sunday. Hundreds of sheep trundle tooth,-- Boulder, and Pioneer mountains. By 1 920, through town; before heading south through the. ; Ketchum was the laigest sheep and lamb shipping' valley yplinHi die riwiAhnnnmrl wdirinn iwr : nation in die. United States, second in d world, neariy a ? centuiy old. onlytoSydncy.Australia. Today, Ketchum is best known as the gateway Joaww HiwM is fmlanct vrittrnm Bvst, Idaho. , Sun to Valley, the ski resort, which began attracttourists when the Union- - Pacific Railroad ing steamed through in. 193V '' The area is nw ayeaMound resort and recreation are but has kept its Western pioneer charm, along with its ranching and mining legacy. After the sheep Ketchum and Hai'sy are in south-centr- al 'festival opens ofi an October Friday, with sheep Idaho, spprcxirr.2teV 170 poetry readings and music, festivities move south to rnKes cf Boise. east for Hailey (popf&OO) Saturdays Sheep poBdife Fait 'v . Paradhig bagplpari uphold Ktehurrrt ScottMi Mtuanca. om day a yaar, unJarscorlin thafc Importance In Katchum uiiiii . |