6-16-2012

Another beautiful day here at the TP. Getting ready for fathers day, Hopefully we will have a good crowd as we have a good gun fight planned.
  Yesterday we had a 86 year old gentleman come by and spend some time with us. He was very interesting and could tell some amazing stories. He used to be a horse trainer but decided to stop that about six years ago. But he does the most amazing bead work. Just like the Native Americans used to do, with the tiny seed beads. He left several items on consignment with us. Some brackets, chokers, bolos ties, bags and even a gun scabbard. Some really beautiful stuff you all will have to come by and see it. He might come and spend some weekends with us demonstrating how he does his work and telling stories. I hope he does and I will keep you posted as to when he will be here.
Eleeshea

6-8-2012

We have a field trip from Denver coming out the 13th. So we are getting ready for it all. 55 kids, two hours and everyone gets to ride a horse! We did one last Wednesday as well with slightly fewer kids. It was a little crazy but went fairly well. So hopefully the bugs will all be worked out and this one will go off without a hitch. If anyone is in the area stop by there will be lots of tour guides and lots of activities.

6-1-2012

Hey there!!! It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day. Summer officially started for us last weekend and we are now doing daily gunfights and horse rides. We are getting a lot more local consignments and some of it is really neat stuff. A lady came by today wanting to set up a bake and refreshment table on the weekends! Hope she does, but the volunteers might buy more than the tourists!

Our blacksmith is still in Phoenix at a wedding so he hasn't started up the forge yet but we are expecting him soon.

We have almost had some catastrophes in our gunfights that you all are missing out on. Elisha Robertson was playing Wild Bill in a skit the other day and he left his gun strapped down! So when he went to shoot he almost shot his leg! Even though we don't use real bullets the powder in the blanks will burn pretty good. Every show an adventure!

5-30-2012

We are having a great day here at the Trading Post, its warm and sunny, the horses are fat and sassy and the gunfights are going full blast (pun intended). We are starting to get more consignments of goods at our gift shop, its good to know that people are finally starting to hear about us. A gentelman brought some antler funrinture the other day and just today we added some more locally made jams and jellys. Also today a lady brought in some antler art. Very nice stuff, in the Indian theme. The antlers are decorated with leather and bone and horn beads. One is a elaborate picture frame that would be just dandy for someone to frame a nice picture of their western adventure in.

First Gunfight Of The Season!!!

The first gunfight of the season is about to take place. Wish you all were here, it looks to be an interesting performance. The wind is blowing fifty miles an hour and they were all trying to remember their lines! The gunfighters were joking about needing to tie their hats on so they could die before it blew off!

5-8-12

Well its that time of year again!!! Our summer and busiest season is just around the corner. Soon we will all be stalking the grounds duded out and packing iron. We are gearing up for this to be our best summer yet.
Slowly we are wiping away the cobwebs and getting all the displays and buildings open for summer in an other week we should be 100% open and then memorial day we will start shooting one another! Hope to see you all at our gunfights! (as anaudiencee; just thought I should clarify!)

Open house

   The White Mountain Trading Post is having an open house the 16^th through the 18^th. There will be complementary hot coco, apple cider and cookies. Bring your camera and get some unusual holiday pictures with our volunteers who will all be in period costume. Also bring the kids and get a free picture of them with Monty, our pony. We will be giving demos on wood stove cooking, knitting and gun spinning throughout the weekend. Our hours until Christmas will be 10am to 7pm, daily. Don’t forget that the trading post gift shop has handmade items from local artisans that would make perfect gifts; and at the same time you will be supporting the valley and the free living history museum. Stop by and see the progress we’ve made this year!

July 27

    The sun is shinning here in Colorado, there is moisture in the air and someone else was here to help brush the mud out of the horses hair! What more could you ask for?
   But I do feel sory for the gunfighters today the ground is pretty soft from all the rain so they will look real authentic after they play dead in the mud! I bet there will be a good bit of discusion about who is going to do the shooting and who is going to do the dieing. :) !!!
    But while its cool I better get the kinks out of the horses legs and then I have those ever present saddles to clean and oil. I am at a stand still on the repairing part 'till I get in some parts. Anyhow have a good one and stop by the tours are in full swing.

July 26

It rained last night! It has not rained for several weeks and only a couple times for the last several months; it has been so dry that the weeds have been having a hard time! The only bad thing about the rain is that some of the farmers had their hay down, so the rain may have ruined it. That in turn is not good for us because then the price for good hay goes up and the horses don’t do enough rides to pay their way even at the old hay prices. We are trying to find some good pasture for the winter, maybe in a milder climate, that would help considerably on the feed bill. We will see.
But for now we are dealing with the mud with only mild complaining. It is everywhere it gets tracked in all the displays and of course the horses are covered with it. They just love the mud. When I turned them loose last night for there daily run they rolled several times apiece in the mud, then they would get up bucking and rearing and tare out across the arena. My buckskin mustang, Lady Baby Buttermilk had to get one up on the other horse though; she went in and layed down in the lake of run off and got her entire body soaked with muddy water. I still haven’t got all the mud out this morning. Everything is wet, all the saddles and saddle pads so I am running a skeleton crew today while everything gets dried out in the sun I only have a couple horses saddled for giving rides. Things ought to be dry soon though, the sun is out nicely and its pretty warm.  

July 24

 God has blessed us with another beautiful day and like usual there is a lot to get done. I did not even finish a single one of those saddles so I have those to work on and of course I will also be giving rides.
I have promised myself that today I am going to make time to practice with my trick rope. How am I ever to get that butterfly trick if I don’t practice? I got my new rope in but I have only used it twice for about ten minutes once and five the other time. Now Yancey has been getting some use out of it, he is getting pretty good with the big loop and vertical. Speaking of that new rope I was so glad to get it because it is the exact kind and brand Will Rogers and Monte Montana used! Of course that wont make me rope better but in my mind it kind of seems to insinuate that; don’t you think?
We have a gunfight coming up soon and we have a lot of horse training planned for today. I just hope it doesn’t get too hot; At this altitude that sun can be brutal!