ELKO, Nev. – The California Trail Interpretive Center presents two free family events featuring Frank and Mary Ann Tortorich, Life Members of the California Trail Association, on Saturday, April 20.
Beginning at 11 a.m., there will be a two-act play – ‘Getting Ready to Go.’ Frank and Mary Ann portray Sylvester and Anne Mae Hale as they prepare to travel west on the Overland Trail. Learn about their preparations for the five-month journey and what lays in store for them.
At 1 p.m., Frank will present a Chautauqua, a form of entertainment popular in rural areas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that included speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day, about Sgt. William Coray. Coray, of the Mormon Battalion, along with his wife, Melissa, was among the first who blazed the “highway” through Carson Pass, about 50 miles southwest of present-day Carson City, Nev.
A fifth-generation Californian, Frank is the author of Gold Rush Trail and Hiking the Gold Rush Trail. Frank and Mary Ann are Charter and Life Members of Oregon California Trail Association. Frank was the first elected President of the California-Nevada Chapter in 1986.
The California Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is located eight miles west of Elko, at Hunter exit 292. The center is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visit www.blm.gov/cv5c, our Facebook page or call (775) 738-1849 for more information.
