Toni, Kent and Aunt Shirley went to Idaho Falls to meet Ilene, Sam and Nikki and pick up the motorhome that Ilene had purchased for Toni. Cheryl also came down from Montana so grandpa & everyone got to see little Matthiew. They have nick-named the motorhome "Bandit", so it will be getting a new paint-job and have its name written all over it. Of course some of our guests might feel that for what we are charging, "Bandit" is committing highway robbery. Only kidding! "Bandit" is going to serve us well, we will be able to pick up and deliver guests at the airport and also will be using it to take tours.One of the big advantages is that it has a bathroom in it, which will be a big plus touring these wide open spaces (if you know what I mean).

Toni has been working behinds the scene doing all the necessary but boring job of getting building permits, tax ID's etc. Right now she is working on getting us permits from BLM and the Forest Service, so that we can take our guest on tours in the motorhome and for horseback rides. These tours will be a very important part of what we have to offer our guest.

For our opening summer, we have decided to narrow our focus of history to the era between the 1820's to 1840's. We will concern ourselves mainly with the mountain men, trappers and Indians of this area during that time period. We are looking at the more microscopic view of history, the day to day living of the trappers and Indians, trying to give our guests an idea of what a struggle it was to live off the land during this time. Clint has been studying what he calls the "Big Picture", these are dates and events of people that were in this area and what tribes of Indians were here at that time. He and Dawn have gone on weekend excursions trying to find the different passes the mountain men & explorers wrote about in their journals. Clint feels that get a good overview will help to narrow down the more minute details of daily problems, basic needs and challenges that the first whites and Indians had to face just to survive in this country. So many things we take for granted now days were daily concerns for these people. If anyone is curious about how something was done, or what they used or whatever please send your questions on to us. There is a good chance that the questions you are asking are the ones our guest will ask us too. It would be a great help in preparing for our first season.

Some of us are trying to narrow down our focus and what we will contribute to the History Ranch. Kristy has plans for decorating the lodge. Each guest room will have a theme, she has several ideas for these: a trapper room, a goldminer's room, cowboy (bunkhouse) theme, an outlaw, Indian and homesteader. Last but not least she plans on decorating one like a brothel which was the idea that inspired the look of the whole lodge in the first place. Ilene is very thrilled about this one and wants to help decorate it. Now Ilene, how would you know what the inside of a brothel looks like?

Dawn is working on a logo (the stretched hide logo at the top of this page) for the History Ranch and preparing and ad for the February issue of "Wild West" magazine, so be watching for it.This is another logo she has made.She is also working on a website and brochures. Dawn has decided to study the bags that were used during this time period, beginning with the "pouche of possibles" bag carried by the mountain men, which contained medicines, food, gunpowder and other things they might have needed. Eventually  she will learn about other larger types bags like parfleches, and other bags used on horses and in the tepees.

Toni is going to research the food and cooking of the time.  She is already collecting recipes, but fair warning some of them seem a little scary, Suet Pudding, Vinegar Pie, and Spotted Pup, just to name a few. If you want to know what these are you'll have to come for dinner sometime. She will also be experimenting with some of the foods used by the Native Americans such as camas root. Again if you can think of any good questions for Toni, send them on.

I have decided to take on the clothing of the period, much of this involves brain-tanned hides. I know many of you are laughing and rolling around on the ground by now. But I figure any woman who has been through childbirth can handle just about anything after that. Also the oils from the brains are supposed to be very good for the skin, so next time you see me you will have to tell how wonderful and young my hands look. We figure since it is hunting season, now is our only chance to get some good hides. So Clint and I went down to the locker and bought half a freezer full of hides, problem was we didn't have a freezer. So Toni donated a freezer to our cause, which Clint, Dawn and I went to get in the back of Clint's Truck. Eventually we wanted to put the freezer in the Piney Store, but until then we kept it plugged in with the extension cord 
draped from the back of the truck to the building. Trudy is convinced that we are completely "redneck".  (But it gets worse, and this is why so many of you might want to disown a few of us.) In order to get the hides the man told us to come down around 5 o'clock every evening to see what they had before they salted them.  This involved Clint and I unplugging the freezer (fortunately we remembered that part) and me riding in the back to hold the freezer door shut, down main street Pinedale with my nose pointed to the wind and my hair flapping in the breeze like a golden retriever's. So much for me ever getting a date in this town. Ah yes, just another shopping day for the Clampetts in Pinedale, Wyoming. Redneck is having a long enough extension cord so you never have to unplug your freezer.

I insulted the gentleman at the locker by asking him if he had any brains. The more I tried to correct it the worse it got. Now they refer to me as the "hide lady", next it might be the "old hide".

Lodge Floor Plan                   O'Brien Ranch Layout              Sewer System Detail

When they were digging the leech field they ran across a dump that is fairly new, within the last 30 years probably. It is located near the southwest corner of the old corrals up on top of the hill. Does anyone know when this might have been done?

We will try to give updates weekly.