< All Press Releases

ELKO, Nev. – Learn why the Winchester rifle is “The Gun that Won the West” and the legacy of women in the American west, at the California Trail Interpretive Center during September.

The Trail Center is presenting a variety of family friendly programs throughout September. The following programs are free and open to everyone:

Sept. 1, 10:00 a.m.:  Petticoats and Prospecting: Women of the American West

In the 19th century, making a living in the West required perseverance and hard work, often for very little reward in return. While women were a minority, they still braved the inhospitable and dangerous land to mine for gold and silver, run ranches and farms, and found other ways to attain success while contributing to their communities.

Join Southern Nevada Conservancy Interpreter Jordan Thomas and learn how women left a legacy of determination and courage in the American West.

Sept. 2, 2:00 p.m.:  Junior Ranger Program: Map Making: Filling in the Blanks

To find their way to California, emigrants needed reliable maps. The first white explorers of the West, like the mountain men and John C. Fremont, made these maps. Join Nevada Outdoor School Interpreter Tim Burns and enjoy a map-making activity and game.

Sept 5, 7:00 p.m.:  Evening Program: Astronomy Program: Planet or Star?

What planets can we observe this time of year? Join Nevada Outdoor School Director of Programming Jackie Lucero and learn more about our night skies. Lucero will create a model of our solar system, and discuss why we are able to see planets at certain times of the year. Then participants will go outside and search for four planets among the stars.

Sept. 8, 10:00 a.m.:  Songbird: Telling the Paiute Story

Christina Thomas, a woman of Paiute, Shoshone, and Hopi descent, will share her rich knowledge and insight into her people’s heritage.

Thomas will explore the performing arts of traditional singing, drumming and dancing. She will provide lessons in the Paiute language and tell traditional stories, and will share knowledge of traditional foods and plants. Thomas will also discuss the history of the Great Basin native peoples, and provide her unique perspective on contemporary Native American issues.

This program is produced through a partnership between the Trail Center and Nevada Humanities, and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sept. 9, 2:00 p.m.:  Junior Ranger Program: Survive and Advance

California Trail emigrants made tough decisions while traversing the West. One decision could often be the difference between successfully making it to California – or not.

Join Park Ranger Greg Feathers for a game of skill and chance. Junior rangers will travel on a scaled down version of the Trail and make a series of tough choices. The stakes are high, and the outcomes of your decisions will determine whether you make it to California and start a new life, or fail and perish. Age eight and up.

Sept. 15, 10:00 a.m.:  Basque Dancing

The Elko Arinak Basque Dancers will perform a variety of folk dances. Many of the dances are illustrated stories of traditional lifeways from the Basque Country. The dance group, first formed in 1967, has performed throughout the United States. The dancers took part in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in July 2016.

Sept. 16, 2:00 p.m.:  Junior Ranger Program: Pioneer Music and Dancing

Can you imagine not having a television or a cell phone to keep you entertained? Pioneer kids could. For fun, they played instruments and danced. Join Jordan Thomas, and make your own simple pioneer instruments and learn a pioneer dance.

Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m.:  Evening Program: Visit the California Trail

Want to visit the California Trail in northeastern Nevada? Join Larry Hyslop and learn how to explore significant sites on the California Trail near Elko. Hyslop and Charles Greenhaw developed a series of guides to the California Trail in northeastern Nevada. Hyslop is also a board member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance.

Sept. 22, 10:00 a.m.:  The Chinese and the Transcontinental Railroad

The men who built the Central Pacific Railroad were tough as nails, hardworking, unbreakable, and mostly Chinese. Join Ranger Feathers and learn more about the experience of the Chinese railroad laborers as they dug, blasted, and hammered their way east from Sacramento to Utah.

Sept. 23, 2:00 p.m.:  Junior Ranger Program: An Introduction to the Compass

Knowing how to use a map and compass is a vital outdoor skill. Learn the basics of orienteering at the Trail Center. The class is by John Watson of Boy Scout Troop 91. Age eight and up.

Sept. 29, 10:00 a.m.:  The Winchester Rifle: “The Gun that Won the West”

Winchester rifles are the iconic guns of the Old West. Join Jeff Williams, a local historian and antique gun collector, and see 40 original antique Winchester rifles from 1860 to 1912. Williams will discuss the early history of Winchester rifles, used by emigrants and settlers throughout the West. Learn why the Winchester has been referred to as “The Gun that Won the West.”

Sept. 30, 2:00 p.m.:  Mountain Man Show and Tell

Join Tim Burns and learn about the bold explorers known as mountain men. In the wild, they often had to make their own gear. See what a mountain man kept in his “possibles bag,” and other tools he used as he explored the rugged West.

For more information about the California Trail Interpretive Center, call (775) 738-1849. Visit the Trail Center online at www.californiatrailcenter.org or https://www.facebook.com/californiatrailinterpretivecenter/.

The California Trail Interpretive Center is located eight miles west of Elko on I-80, Hunter exit 292. The Center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.