Old Spanish Trail Day

EOSTA, BLM & the DDC Hit Another Home Run in Barstow

Yesterday, we hit the road for Barstow's Old Spanish Trail Day celebration. The brains behind the event included (from the left):
1. Zach Pratt, BLM Recreation Branch Chief
2. Jane Laramon-Brockhurst, Director of the Desert Discovery Center
3. Nelson Miller, President of the Mojave River Chapter of the Old Spanish Trail Association (OSTA
4. Viola Basulto, Chairman of the Old Spanish Trail Day celebration
5. Carmen Hernandez, Barstow City Council Member

Their Old Spanish Trail Day packaged history in ways that engaged the entire community.

At 10 am sharp, Master of Ceremonies Eddie Ribera welcomed guests and launched the day’s activities.
Zach Pratt (left) displayed the Resolution by the California State Legislature that declared the first Saturday in October as Old Spanish Trail Day in California.

Making History
Last year, soon after the State Legislature passed the Old Spanish Trail Day Resolution, we presented a copy of that Resolution to (from left) Old Spanish Trail Day Chairman Viola Basulto, Barstow City Council Member Merrill Gracey, Mayor Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, City Council Members Carmen Hernandez and Richard Harpole, Mojave River Chapter President Tim Baggerly, and event organizer and historian Cliff Walker.

Watching this year’s ceremony were some of the student volunteers who had come from Barstow Community College, a Barstow Girl Scout Troup, and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy.

The breadth of programs and activities amazed us.

Arriving guests were offered passports that, when stamped at all 12 stations, were entered into a drawing.

Old Spanish Trail coloring books . . .

. . . rolled in some history along with the coloring.

INSIDE DISPLAYS included a Blanket Trading Booth, . . .

. . . the brand-spanking new Old Spanish Trail Recreation & Development Strategy presented by Maraca Queen Rose Beardshear and her fellow BLMer Art Basulto, . . .
[Check out Rose's video of the Folklorico dancers from the Barstow Academy of Dance at
https://www.facebook.com/ Grammy.Rose/videos/10208359 201404059/

. . . Gems & Minerals displayed by Mariah Hilman, and more.

PATIO DISPLAYS included Candle and Butter Making with Sayer De Woadhyll, . . .

. . . Flint Knapping with Sam Hunter, . . .

. . . Corn Husk Dolls with Charles Wharmby and the STEM Academy students, and others.

OUTDOOR DISPLAYS included . . .

. . . a Mountain Man Camp staged by the Big Horn Mountain Men, . . .

. . . Mule Packing with Terry Haider, . . .

. . . and roving musician Gary West on the acoustic guitar.

Historian Cliff Walker, here at his Night Camp demonstration, led the list of academic presentations that included:
1. Cliff Walker—Slave Trade along the Old Spanish Trail
2. Zach Pratt—Old Spanish Trail Recreation and Develop Strategy
3. Rob Fulton—Survival of Animal Life in the Mojave Desert
4. Charles Wood & Jay Cravath—Tribal History along the Old Spanish Trail
5. Tom Sutak—OST, A Route for the Gold Rush & Southern California Development

Old Spanish Trail Day in Barstow links the past with the future.
In a few years, these budding painters may be . . .

. . . adding more murals to walls in Barstow, like this Old Spanish Trail one. Those murals help keep local history alive.
Hats off to David Brockhurst and the Main Street Mural program!
http://www.mainstreet murals.com/

More than 1,000 folks attended.
Remember to mark your calendar for the first Saturday in October next year for the 4th Annual Old Spanish Trail Day in Barstow. See you there.