Topaz Museum Groundbreaking

We took a break from the Millard County Fair on Saturday morning to go to the main park in Delta for the Topaz Internment Camp Museum Groundbreaking. Topaz was one of several internment camps during World War II. Over 110,000 Americans of Japanese descent were taken from their homes and put into camps for years. They were never charged with any crimes, yet they had to stay in the camps, surrounded by barbed wire fences and guards. Over 11,000 were processed at Topaz, out in the Great Basin desert.

Jane Beckwith started the push to recognize Topaz about twenty years ago. Since that time, the Topaz Museum Board has accomplished a lot. They've bought 634 acres of the 640 acre site of Topaz. It was named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. They also purchased property on Main Street for the Topaz Museum and received a NPS grant to design the exhibits. They've raised $1.6 million toward their goal of $2.3 million. They've also done a lot of outreach over the years, spreading the word about what happened at Topaz.

That outreach has been successful, as there was a very good turnout.

Toru Saito shared two songs with the crowd.

Willie Ito, a former Topaz Internee, spoke. He was a child during the war, and he practiced his cartoon drawing. Later he was employed as a cartoonist for the movie industry. It was good to hear something positive came out of the terrible idea of Topaz and the other internment camps.

Drummers from the Kenshin Taiko group performed amazing numbers on their huge drums.

The sound echoed all around the park.

Next was the groundbreaking for the museum. It will be located next to the Great Basin Museum on Main Street. Delta is sure getting classy with two museums on Main Street!

The rest of the day included tours to the Topaz site, presentations, more Taiko drumming, the showing of the digital mapping project of the site, and more.

To learn more about Topaz, check out their excellent website, which includes links in the Digital Archive section to photos and newspapers from the 1940s.

A Walk in the Woods

Shoes? Check.
Cameras? Check.
Water bottles? Check.
LOTS of snacks? Check.
Pirate gear? Check.
Princess paraphanelia? Check.
Train sounds? Check.
We were ready to go hiking, a little walk in the woods.

 I was on the lookout for photos for a photo challenge, with this week's theme being fruit and flowers. I found some Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) berries.

 Desert Boy had expressed some interest in taking photos, so I let him use my old camera. Desert Girl just wanted a snack.

 Redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum), one of the prettiest late summer flowers.

 Our hike suddenly got exciting when we found we could eat some of nature's bounty. The wild raspberries were delicious.

 A butterfly landed on my shirt. It turned out to be a Pine White.

 The currants were at their peak, and the kids quickly learned how to forage for them.

 Yum!

 I saw this dragonfly (or is it a damselfly?) and that made me take the photo, but I didn't notice the spider dangling underneath till later.

 We made it to our destination, a bridge where the kids snacked and spent twenty minutes throwing sticks into the water. They really didn't want to leave, but finally conceded it would be okay as long as they had hiking sticks.

 The sun peeked out from the storm clouds and made the mountain mahogany seeds glow.

 The trees look so cool!

Here are the kids sharpening their wood pirate and princess knives. They made up lots of games on the hike back, which made me delighted as in the past I've had to make up games for them. They also thought it was lots of fun to run down the trail, and Desert Girl would yell out, "Running," and then take off. They already want to hike again today, so I think that means we had a successful day.

Monsoons Are Back

 This morning a large cloud came over the mountain, sending out rumbles and drops of rain. Behind it was blue sky, and I figured we would resume the heat in the afternoon. But I was wrong. We ended up with a stormy day, and rain even accompanied the thunder and lightning. (That is notable in the desert--we get many storms with no rain.) After dinner I couldn't resist going for a little walk to enjoy the spectacular light.

 I could see more storm clouds to the south. It was beautiful. It was also fun to watch the heifers totally ignore those dark clouds and distant lightning.

 We headed back out for a family walk, but in the time it took to find kids' shoes, the light had faded. The lightning hadn't faded, so I tried my best to capture some lightning shots.

 There were some magnificent displays, and sometime I will have to use a tripod!

It's nice having some of the cooler weather. I'm just really hoping that we have a break from the monsoons on Saturday night so we can watch the Perseid meteor shower!

Millard County Fair 2012

 I really wanted to go to the Millard County Fair, as I really enjoy county fairs. (Yep, when the kids get slightly older, we'll be making a pilgrimage back to the county fair where I grew up.) The Millard County Fair runs Tuesday through Saturday. We managed to make it Friday evening in time for the Danny Newell All-Star Band. I loved the big band music, with lots of jazz tunes.

 In fact, I am going to have to get my trumpet out and see if I can still make some music.

 The band inspired Desert Girl to dance.

 Desert Boy joined her. Before long, there were a few couples dancing. It was hard to sit still and listen to the music.

 The kids talked me into snow cones. I finally acquiesced, figuring if they were busy eating, they would sit still and be quiet for a little while.

 Desert Girl added to her stickiness.

 As the concert went on, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.

 I had to get up and check out the clouds.

 It was magical.

 Following the band, we stayed for the outdoor showing of Cars2. Desert Girl found a new friend and wanted to stay with her during the movie. She even managed to stay awake through the whole thing.

At one point, Desert Boy looked up and said, "Mom, look at all the stars!"

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and went to see the exhibits.

 The kids wanted to color a picture at the entrance, which gave me a great opportunity to go look at things with a little more attention.

 This awesome dragon was made by a teenage boy out of pinecones.

 What a wonderful chest!

 The doll is topping a cake.

 The kids wandered around some of the exhibits with me, had fun trying out some physics experiments at the University of Utah Cosmic Ray booth, picked up deputy sheriff badges, no smoking kits from the public health nurse, and more.

 Then it was time to go to the free inflatable slide and bounce house. The kids were delighted.

Later in the day the kids had their faces painted. They were worn out, so it was time to pack them up and head home. What expressions, eh? They managed to stay awake for some grocery shopping, but they were snoozing for most of the drive.

The White Pine County Fair is in less than two weeks, so we can go enjoy another fair soon!

Cove Fort

The kids had a dentist visit in Cedar City and then we wanted to go to the Millard County Fair in Delta, Utah, so instead of making two separate trips, we decided to combine the two. That meant we got to travel some different roads. We had two main route choices. I had seen that Cove Fort Days was August 3 and 4, and so that decided the route, as I had never been to Cove Fort. It's near the junction of I-70 and I-15.

Cove Fort was finished in 1867 as a waystation for travelers. It was built by the Mormons around a well in the fort. They didn't have enough water to build a town, but up to 75 travelers at a time stayed at the fort. Cove Fort was strategically placed half way between Fillmore and Beaver and was an important telegraph station and stop for two stagecoach lines.

By the 1890s, the LDS church decided they didn't need the fort any longer and leased it. They sold it in the early twentieth century. In 1989, descendants of Ira Hinckley, who had established the fort, bought the property and donated it back to the church. The church restored it, built a visitor center, and turned it into a historic site with free tours. During the annual celebration, they also have some extra activities.

Many people in period costume set up tents and showed glimpses of what life was like back in the late 1800s.

Some medical tools. I sure appreciate modern medicine!

A lot of people were having fun with stilts. We gave it a try but weren't too coordinated. Desert Boy found some kids in period costume and had fun playing with their toy wooden guns.

Then it was on to food. They had free hot dogs and chips.

While we were eating, we listened to some lovely entertainment.

Over on the side we couldn't help but notice some movement.

The Wells Fargo wagon was coming to the fort.

We decided to join the US mail for a little jaunt.

It was a bouncy five minute ride that had Desert Boy grinning the entire time. Desert Girl said she was even ready to go to Oregon. I can't imagine riding for days--or even hours--in that bouncy wagon. It would have been so hot and dusty. Those pioneers were tough.

The horses were so good natured. They had been giving rides all day long.

Next we decided to go see the fort. It's 100 feet long on each side, with walls made of volcanic and limestone rock. Those long-lasting materials are why the fort is still in existence. Two big doors allow access to the interior of the fort.

The walls are thick, about five thick at the base and tapering to two feet at the top.

The stars and stripes fly high over the fort.

From a little balcony, we could see the interior courtyard.

Twelve rooms are in the fort. Usually a tour guide takes people through the fort, but during this weekend, guides were stationed outside each room to increase capacity.

The kids weren't very patient about looking at the rooms, so we didn't get to see all of them, but we did see some. They looked surprisingly comfortable. In the winter it would have taken a lot of wood to heat all those rooms!

I asked one of the guides if the town of Hinckley was named after Ira Hinckley. She looked at me and said, "I didn't even know there was a town named Hinckley." I don't suppose too many people know that there's a town named Hinckley. It's a few miles west of Delta and on Highway 50, so we know about it as we travel that Highway quite a bit. I looked it up, and the town is named after Ira Hinckley. I had never given much thought about the origin of the name, so we both learned something.

We went out the back and saw an amazing garden. It looks so much better than my barely-surviving garden. Of course, it has a much better irrigation system!

Also out back was the blacksmith shop, which was really interesting.

A world-champ blacksmith was giving a live demonstration.

Desert Boy had never seen hobbles before.

Then it was on to play a ring rolling game. Desert Boy really wanted to succeed.

He did pretty well, but not as well as the older kids, and that frustrated him.

Desert Girl also gave it a try.

On the way back through the fort we stopped in the telegraph room, which had a morse code message tapping out. If only I remembered my morse code from those high school days when my friend and I would try and tap out messages to each other during class!

I enjoyed this old map of "Johnson's California, with territories of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona". Notice what territory Las Vegas is in?

We easily spent an hour and a half at Cove Fort. It was an enjoyable stop, and I'd go back. I'm sure we only touched on a little bit of the pioneer history that the Fort preserves. If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood of I-70 and I-15, it's worth a visit.