Oregon

Halfway

We camped near Halfway on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway.

We had the camp to ourselves. 

At dusk the mule deer came out.

Next to the camp is an unusual structure. It is a Wigwam burner, used for burning scrap timber from the Ellingson Timber mills.

I walked up to investigate and heard loud noises so I gingerly approached an opening when a mule deer sprang out in full flight. It scared the s**t out of me.

Inside apart from the deer there were several barn owls.

Hells Canyon

Hells Canyon is the deepest canyon in north America and one of the deepest canyons on earth.
It is deeper than the Grand Canyon. 8000 ft above Snake River compared to the Grand Canyon 6000 ft above the Colorado River.
I must add that it is no where near as spectacular as The Grand Canyon.

Unlike the Grand Canyon a road takes you down to Snake River then follows the river to Hells Canyon Dam.

Elgin

Elgin Stampede

The ladies barrel race.

I love the rodeo's, especially the bull riding.

Enterprise

We arrived at Enterprise per chance on the day of their Soap Box Derby.

Enterprise is a charming middle class town.

Town square.

Main St. Motors put on a car show along with food and giveaways.

The locals put their classic cars on show.

The day was all about the Soap Box Derby.

 Lots of work went in to the carts.

It was on for young and old.

Some in it for fun.

Some were out to win.

Joseph

Joseph is a spectacular gem of a town we decided to visit.

Referred to as "Little Switzerland of America"

It is nestled in a valley amongst the Wallowa mountain ranges and at one end of Lake Wallowa. 

The crystal clear waters of Lake Wallowa.

Joseph is an "arty" town with plenty of galleries and a fantastic collection of bronze statues adorning the streets.

The bronzes are manufactured in the the Valley Bronze foundry.

We did the Valley Bronze foundry tour.

Now I know where the bronze eagle in the town square of Enterprise came from.

Pendleton

Pendleton Underground Tour 

The Pendleton Underground Tour is a tour of Pendleton's red light district. The illicit businesses were driven underground in a series of tunnels built by the Chinese directly under the city. The tours subject matter is about gambling, bootlegging and prostitution over 100 years ago. It includes the Cozy Rooms Bordello, gambling rooms, bars, Chinese jails and an Opium Den. 

The tour guide at one of the bars.

(Mannequin on the bar)

Gambling den with mannequins.

Opium den.

Butcher shop. 

One of the legal underground businesses. 

The legitimate businesses often had hidden doors leading to the illegitimate  businesses.

The business owners had an extensive signal operation warning of impending police raids.

Opium den.

One of the rooms in the Cozy Rooms Bordello.

Wyoming

Cheyenne

Small central plaza in Cheyenne.

The city lives up to its name of being an historic "Cowboy Town." The County has adorned the city area with giant colourful western boots.

Chris outside the Cheyenne Depot Museum.

The Mighty Big Boy
The Union Pacific Big Boy 4004 is one of eight surviving examples of the world's largest locomotives.

It was retired in 1958. Look at the couple standing by the gate to get an idea of its size.

We viewed the privately owned Nelson Museum. Robert Nelson has collected an extraordinary amount of "Old Western" memorabilia and displays them in this museum. 

This cabinet displays outfits worn by Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans. 

Stetson hats, original western boots, etc displayed in this cabinet.

Robert Nelson is also an avid hunter and the museum has a large display of stuffed animals he had shot.

Here he displays many forms of Indian clothing and bead ware. The older pieces are highly sought by American collectors and they sell for enormous prices.

Two fine sets of colt pistols. The handles are made of silver and gold. There is a huge display of pistols and rifles in the museum.

Laramie

Whilst in Laramie we toured the Wyoming Territorial Prison.

The building is circa 1872 and was run as a prison until 1903.

The prison has a claim to fame of housing Butch Cassidy for several years.

Photo of Butch Cassidy (lower right) and "The Wild Bunch"

Remember the huge explosion when Butch and Sundance robbed the train in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". This is supposed to be the remains of the original safe found near the robbery site. There is some controversy though as the newspaper pictures of the day show a different safe.

The prison ran a successful broom factory. Their exports found their way to Japan.

Here is a volunteer showing a young boy the art of broom making.

Out he back was a typical rural America vista. The lovely old barn, wind pump and wagon.

Medicine Bow National Forest

From Laramie we took a detour through Medicine Bow National Forest. The road took us up to about 10500 feet and the drive was spectacular.

A serious fisherman. Dressed if full assault camouflage those unfortunate trout didn't stand a chance.

A view down a mountain river.