ELKO, Nev.— The Bureau of Land Management, Elko District is hosting the eighth annual California Trail Days at the California National Historic Trail Interpretive Center Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
A variety of displays for all ages is available at this free event, including black powder rifle demonstrations, period music, live oxen, gold panning, a blacksmith, Native American crafts and formal presentations on the history and culture of the area.
Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, an expert on the history of the Chinese in Nevada, is a featured presenter this year. On Saturday, Chung will present “Loy Lee Ford: A Woman Between Two Worlds” a live interpretation of a Chinese woman living in Tonapah, Nev. On Sunday, Chung will host a presentation on the Chinese who settled in Elko, Tuscarora and Island Mountain. Chung’s program coincides with the new temporary exhibit, “Gum San: Land of the Golden Mountain.” This exhibit explores the Chinese experience in the West during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is available throughout the summer. Gum San and Dr. Chung appear as part of a grant provided by Nevada Humanities.
California Trail Days also marks the unveiling of new permanent exhibits including Jumping Off, Indian Trade Diorama and Crossing the Forty Mile Desert mural and diorama. Visitors can also see the traveling exhibit “Seeds of Change,” focusing on the exchange of plants, animals and disease between the old and new worlds in the time since Columbus.
The California Trail Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is eight miles west of Elko at Hunter Exit 292. Beginning with California Trail Days, the center will be open Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Labor Day. Please call (775) 738-1849, or visit www.elkotraildays.com or http://blm.gov/cv5c for more information.
