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Wagons Ho!
Amy Aggen wasn't about to let her friends lose. Digging in her heels, she gritted her teeth and gave the length of rope a hearty tug as her classmates gained some ground. Step by step, they moved slowly backward knowing they were just inches from victory.
As the whistle blew, the children from West Elementary School celebrated their victory as they belted out a hearty "yee ha!" It was the same phrase they had repeated many times that day as they got to experience what life was like on the frontier.
The tug-of-war contest culminated a day filled with hands-on lessons during this year's Wagons Ho experience. Celebrating its 21st year, the pioneer camp brought the flavor of early American life to fourth grade students from local area schools in practically their own back yard.
Set up at Carl Miller Park, the camp included everything from a covered wagon to a campfire, all of which was aimed at helping students learn how life really was for those living on the American frontier.
Throughout the day, the students and their adult chaperones visited different stations set up around the park, each one capturing a different aspect of pioneer living.
"We enjoy that we can make a museum come to life" where children can experience firsthand what life was like for America's pioneers, said Cal Clevenger, who runs the yearly program with his wife, Marla. It's a definite change from walking through a museum where everything's behind glass, he added.
The hands-on teaching environment makes it not only memorable, but it allows these youngsters to better appreciate how tough life could get for those living in the days before technology, Marla Clevenger said.
"We thought kids would really enjoy learning about Idaho history through a hands-on experience," she added.
Wagons Ho was a perfect way for students like Taylor Hurt to appreciate the everyday challenges associated with everyday life more than a century ago. Her class at the Base Primary School started learning about the state's history just five weeks ago, and the camp helped tie the lessons together and put things into perspective.
As part of their history assignment, Hurt and the rest of her class created fictional journals depicting a person crossing the Great Plains in a wagon train.
"It was nice to be able to 'live' in your own journal (at Wagons Ho)," Hurt said.
Many of the students admitted they had waited a long time for their chance to attend last week's camp.
"I've been waiting since January," said Naomi Zahn, who sat with her friends from West Elementary School as they finished their lunch. "It's supposed to be about all that you've learned (at school) and to have fun."
Wes Winn's son attended the pioneer camp four years ago. Last week, it was his daughter's turn to experience life on the frontier.
"The night before, it was like Christmas at our house," Winn said. "She was laying out her (frontier) costume and making sure everything was ready for today."
While the camp was intended to be a fun experience, safety remained the most important lesson taught during each of the three days. Before allowing these young "wranglers" to use anything at the camp, Cal Clevenger took the students and parents to each station and showed them how everything worked. He stressed the need for people to play it safe to avoid injuries. With children expected to use matches, hammers and sharpened tools, the camp emphasized this message throughout the day with parent chaperones keeping a close eye on their respective group of youngsters.
Despite the lure of chopping wood or learning to create a fire, the roping exhibit remained a popular destination for many students. During their allotted time, they tried their best to swing a lasso around their heads and throw it accurately enough to snag the revolving steel frame that represented a runaway calf.
"You have to sling (the lasso) around and get the back legs or the front horns," Zahn said.
She admitted it took "a few times" to finally succeed. For most of the other aspiring cowboys and cowgirls, their attempts tended to fall way short.
While most activities were designed for individuals, the bandsaw exhibit focused heavily on teamwork. To cut through a section of a roughly nine-inch-thick log, the children needed to work in unison to successfully and quickly cut through this stubborn piece of lumber.
Their tenacity to slice through the log earned them privilege of holding onto the cut timber as a keepsake for their class.
While some frontier chores seemed "fun" to some, others were deemed not so pleasant. Marcus Robinson from the Base Primary School discovered, for example, that washing clothes with only a washboard and cold, soapy water was a lot tougher than it looked.
"Watching my son trying to wash clothes was hilarious," said his mother, Veronica Robinson. "He now appreciates what I have to do at home."
But not every activity required a strong arm to complete. Jesse Grabedoni from West Elementary School used a mallet to drive a metal die into a round piece of leather. When he was finished, the die had left an imprint of a bull's skull on the softened material.
Following the morning's hands-on lessons, the day's festivities focused on fun and friendly competition. The youngsters had a chance to participate in a series of games, including an egg race -- using raw eggs that sometimes didn't survive to the finish line.
Afterward, the students participated in potato sack races before they wrapped up with a series of tug-of-war matches. Each team dug in their spurs, so to speak, to earn bragging rights for the rest of the afternoon.
Throughout the day, the children were asked to put the experiences to paper and pencil. Some took time to either write a thank you note, jot down their thoughts or just draw something that interested them during their day as pioneers.
Dominic Olvera from West Elementary wrote that his favorite activity was making buttons from wood. Fishing the souvenir from his pocket, he said the activity required him to not only drill the button holes but to polish the rough surfaces with a rock.
While Wagons Ho was a completely different experience for most students attending the camp, for others like Kasey Derrick, it was nothing new.
"We already do things like this at home," said Derrick, whose family lives on a nearby ranch. In fact, the child admitted she already has her own branding iron and knows how to use it.