Living in the past — The American West Heritage Center literally brings history alive

WELLSVILLE — A lot can happen in 100 years. Take Cache Valley between 1820 and 1920, for example.

It started off with wild and open lands, home to wandering herds of bison and the native tribes that followed them. Then came mountaineers and fur trappers, who would often rendezvous in the area to trade bear skins and beaver pelts.

Along came white settlers, many driven by faith and fortified by dreams as they began to build settlements and plow the land. Villages turned into towns and towns into cities as new forms of power and work-saving devices came along. But life was still not all that easy as the country and the valley lived through "the war to end all wars."

"Some people say the world has changed more in the past 150 years than in all the time up to that," says Emily Wheeler, a historical interpreter at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. "You come here, and you see how true that is."

The center provides a look at the years between those '20s, with venues that include a Native American encampment, a mountain man center, a pioneer village, a 1917 working farm and more.

The mission of the not-for-profit living-history museum is to "educate, entertain and enlighten the public about the past in the Intermountain area," says David Sidwell, AWHC program director. "Many people in northern Utah share the heritage found here. To others, it can be a welcome exploration of life in the Old West."

This summer, the center hopes to accomplish that mission with a newly implemented "Daily Adventures" program. In past years, activity at the center has culminated in one large festival, says Sidwell. "In recent years, we have chosen to take that large festival and decentralize it, redistributing resources to enhance our other programs.

"The Festival of the American West is now every day, Tuesday through Saturday throughout the summer. It may not be as flamboyant as the old festival; there aren't three-dozen vendors here at any one time. But it's great fun for all ages."

On any given day, there will be activities going on in most of the venues, including such things as hands-on crafts and old-fashioned cooking demonstrations. There will be visiting folk- or fine-artist presentation each day at 12:30, focusing on everything from quilting and weaving to broommaking, woodworking, painting and more.

There will be pony rides for the kids, documentary-film screenings, restoration projects and lots of parties. Each day at 2 p.m., there will be a Victorian tea party or a pioneer party or a heritage-food tasting party.