Quackgrass Sends Photos

Quackgrass Sally was very busy during our film shoot, setting up the reenactor encounters, working with our caterers, moving camp each day...but she found time to take a few photos and here are a couple of them. One is of Kenedy and Angela in camp in Wyoming and the other is of Teton Trosper (foreground) and Tom Yellow Cloud, who came out to share Shoshone culture with us.

Independence Rock Video

So here are the first of what we hope to be a number of video clips from our trip. This was from our stop at Independence Rock. Everyone is talking about how they are feeling three days in to the trip and lots more.

Bob Noll

In this clip you see the girls doing something with their socks--they are trying to get the needle and thread grass and cheat grass stickers out of them. In her journal Candace, shown in front center of video photo, wrote, "The grass was such a pain today! Omg! I have billions of thorn like grasses in my socks!"

--Candy Moulton

Connor and Candace

Connor and Candace on arrival at Foster Farm.

Adjustments at Home

I've heard from some of our Dreamers, and their parents, and know the adjustment to life at home is almost as difficult as the adjustment to life on the trail. Our two weeks together really bonded us as a trail family and that means we miss each other. I've been asked to present some information about the film at the National Convention of the Oregon-California Trails Association in Nampa, Idaho, in August (The convention is Aug. 5-9 and is open to anyone interested. Visit the OCTA Web site at www.octa-trails.org for info). Bob will put together a short film clip for me to show. I've posted some new photos. Watch for more in the next couple of days.

--Candy Moulton

Images from the Trail

More Photos

Jakob takes aim with Kim Merchant, left, and Doc Bob



Mike and Andrew drive the wagon



Livee and Kenady


Arielle and Lydia liberally use the sunscreen

(Photos by Candy Moulton)

Home Again

Hello Dreamers,

I made it home last evening...no doubt the last of our cast and crew to be back in my own home/office/and real bed. Quackgrass and I traveled together to Mountain Home, Idaho, where we found a campsite in a KOA campground and spent the last night in her trailer (It was a wonderful home away from home). On Monday she split to the north and Montana (arriving there about 6 p.m.). I followed the trail back to Casper. I was on South Pass when she called to say she was pulling into her driveway. Although it was a very long day on the road, I truly enjoyed my drive through the Sweetwater Valley, reliving the special moments we all had there just ten days earlier. The light was filtering across the Rattlesnake Range, there were few vehicles and it was good to be on the trail with my own thoughts.

Just as soon as I catch up on the more than 500 e-mail messages that came in while I was out of touch, I'll be putting more photos up on this site.

And then I'll go unpack my car and shake the spiders out of my bedroll once again...so I can be ready to go back on the trail sometime soon.

--Candy Moulton

Yo!

hey everyone! Thanks to all the great people on this trip, it truly made it an awesome experience! The trials we all went through made us all closer than a family in such a short time, so hey fam (wifey) hit me up sometime ( gusterdispatch@gmail.com )! Hope someday ya'all get the chance to experience the softer side of ol' Wyo! Be easy and my thoughts and prayers are with you all!


- Connor

Note from Susan (Scampering Soundie)

On the 21st century trails that crisscross this country, billboards busily bombard trying to sell me stuff I don’t care about, TVs in the airport (a jumping off point for 21st century crossings of the continent) blare biased anti-immigrant reports with exagerrated urgency, and flat screens in the local watering hole draw my eyes glassily up and away from making contact with my fellow travelers. It’s a cold contrast to the tactile experience, our fuzzy friends the mules, the pineneedles, the campfire smoke, our tightknit group, and our progress along the trail, even for those of us who were bound up with batteries, headphones, and transmitters during the expedition. ‘Twas a pleasure to be there. Hope to receive everyone’s contact info and see photos soon.

--Susan Bryant, Scampering Soundie writing July 13 from Hotel in Rapid City, SD with cockroach climbing across the number on my hotel room door.

On the Way Home

This morning we filmed at Foster Farm, placing an Oregon-California Trail marker with OCTA National Preservation Officer Dave Welch. Then we loaded the kids in the vans and they headed off to the Portland Airport. We gave the kids a trail marker as a souvenir. They have certainly earned the right to them, having lived on the trail for two weeks...two showers in all that time--the first a cold one in Montepelier and the second a hot one in a hotel in Oregon.

They are an awesome bunch of kids, I have fallen in love with all of them and will truly miss them. They BETTER stay in touch by e-mail, not only with each other, but with me.

Our work is not done, though, as we still have a lot to complete before this film is ready for airing.

But we have been Pursuing a Dream and along the way we rolled with the punches, hugged, cried, laughed, got dirty, cold, tired, wet, and sweaty. And we became a very close trail family.

Bob, you've been my rock all along the trip. I've cried on your shoulder. I know I've messed up at times (I will check directions better next time and I've learned several other important production lessons). At times I failed miserably in managing things. But we are here, the students are all safely on their way home, and other than being tired and tanned, I think we all are none the worse for the wear, and certainly the better for the chance to travel the trail and soak in its spirit and solace.

Watch the previous blog posts. As I get some more time, I will be adding details...and certainly a lot more photos. But now I have to drive home to Wyoming, traveling with Quackgrass until she splits north to her home in Montana, while Bob and Dan fly off to Boston, and Lincoln, dear, sweet, supportive Lincoln, heads to Burbank.

Eating trail dust with you, my friends, has been a joy and now we truly have merged our souls with the spirit of the trail.


--Candy Moulton

Wrap Party

This evening we traveled by van and vehicle to Oregon City, where we had a wrap party at Clackamette Park. The Northwest Chapter of OCTA sponsored it for us---thank you NW Chapter!!! We pulled a last gag on the kids by having the meal on the table. Mr. Vixie, Mr. Merchant, and Mr. Noll went to the head of the table to reveal the food: Rice, Beans, and Oatmeal! Arielle started crying, Darla had the most horrified expression on her face I’ve ever seen. After we had them really going, we pulled out the turkey and beef, barbecues sauce, salad, potato salad, bread and cookies.

At the end of the party Lincoln and Dan arrived. They had spent hours putting together a special slide show and they hung a wagon canvas from the edge of the park awning and we had “moving pictures” literally. It was so fun to see the early photos on the trail. Some of the kids said it seemed like months ago that they were in Wyoming. There was hooting and hollering, laughing, and a few tears at the end. Thank you Lincoln and Dan for all your hard work in putting the show together under difficult circumstances.

As the show wrapped, Matt, Jacqueline, and most of the rest of the crew and chaperones lit some sparklers. It was a GREAT end to a WONDERFUL ADVENTURE.

--Candy Moulton

Building a Home in Oregon

July 11, Friday

The sleeping bags were all very wet this morning from the dew, but the students and teachers did not complain. They had breakfast (biscuits and gravy) across the road from Philip Foster Farm. The Jittery Pig has a barbecue catering service there in front of the Eagle Creek Feed Store and I arranged for their breakfast.

Today the students built a cabin at Foster Farm. Led mainly by Mr. Merchant and Mrs. Wragge, and with the guidance of Tom Burnett of Foster Farm, they put up the logs. First we all signed them, putting our names on the dovetail notches. It was fun to help build this cabin, knowing it will stand here at the farm for many years. Of course when the pioneers arrived, they had to build their own homes. We were lucky in that Tom already had the logs. They were cut and ready to put into place.

We also planted the apple tree that we carried in the wagon all the way from Wyoming, and then the students built some split rail fence for the farm. We were all enriched by the experience of no only camping in a fine, grassy site, but also in leaving behind something that is a legacy to our Destiny of Dreamers and their two-week journey on the Oregon Trail. I know the students are having some difficult times because they realize that tomorrow they will return to their homes.

We gave them their cell phones and other electronic gadgets today. Most immediately called family members of friends. Quackgrass said she watched Darla when she was given her phone. This beautiful young girl just held the phone in her hands struggling with whether to open and turn it on or savor the final moments on the trail living a simple life of put up camp, prepare your food, find a place to sleep, ride in a wagon, or walk for hours on end. Eventually she did make a call, to her family we presume, and began crying.

Mikayla did not have a cell phone and was hanging back by the barn all by herself when we gave the other students their phones back. I handed Mikayla my phone and told her to call her family. She could not reach her Mom or Dad, but did call her Grandma. She has been the one student who truly surprised me. She was the last student we cast for this trip. During the first few days she seemed particularly quiet, almost shy. But as the physical hardship increased, so did her strength.

--Candy Moulton

We Reach Philip Foster Farm

July 10, Thursday

We spent the morning in camp. The girls did some sewing with Mrs. Wragge. Some of the boys went hunting and got a couple of grouse (actually chickens Bill Vixie brought to camp). They also did some fishing with no success in that department. Mr. Dave Vixie’s wagon groups got their wagon up on the hill and then had to let it down a steep incline using ropes. I thought it was pretty scary and was worried that the rope would slip and they would either get bad rope burns on their hands, or that someone would be struck by the wagon. They worked slowly and methodically with the assistance of Mr. Dave Vixie and Mr. Nystrom, so all was well. In mid-afternoon we packed everything onto trailers again and drove down into the valley where we set up an arrival scene at Philip Foster Farm. This is a respite, and the end of the Barlow Road for us, as it was for the pioneers so long ago. When we got in, we all went to the store and had a cold soda. It tasted so good after having only warm water for the past few days to drink. It was bittersweet to film the wagons arriving at the farm. I am so relieved that we are all here safe and sound as I know what kind of accidents we could have had along the way. Lydia and Angela, who have not been with us for two days, are back on the train this evening and feeling much better. Lydia had been sick since Baker City (we took her to the hospital in LaGrande where she was diagnosed with dysentery, and again in Gresham, when we thought she may have another medical situation developing, but fortunately that was not the case). Angela had an infection in her gums from some recent tooth surgery, but after going to the hospital where she got some antibiotics, she is much better now.

As the wagons arrived, I asked Connor to walk with Candace (his bride of 24 hours). He held her hand as they made the circle, and gave her a big hug at the end of the trail. Of course their “marriage” was arranged, but they are both good sports about the situation and perhaps will stay in touch with each other after this journey ends. Tonight Connor left us for his home in Casper, WY. He has a wedding (for real) to attend for his sister and then leave for a humanitarian trip to Africa. He has been a true joy to have with us on the trail these past two weeks and Quackgrass and I will particularly miss his energy and smiling face.

The students and teachers have spread their ground cloths, lay their sleeping bags atop them, and eaten a fine dinner of fried chicken, potato salad, green salad, and pop that Quackgrass purchased at a nearby store. They will have one more night together on the trail. I hope it is clear and bright so that they can watch the stars once again. I know the hustle and bustle of their lives will soon encroach on such opportunities, particularly for those who live in the cities: Boston, Denver, and Sacramento.

--Candy Moulton

Photos on the Trail

A Wedding in Camp

On Wednesday evening, we had two settlers from the Wilamette Valley visit us. John told us how more land could be claimed if women were involved in the claims. Javonna and several of the other girls said they would find a husband in order to have the land. This afternoon Bob and I went to Candace and told her we were planning a wedding for the evening and needed her participation. At the conclusion of the talent show, Mr. Merchant took up the Bible and asked Candace and Connor to join him. We had a wedding! After the ceremony the young couple climbed into Kim's wagon and we "rocked them." Then we had some dancing. Connor was a little put out that he could not dance with Candace, but she plays the fiddle and helped Mr. Merchant and Ranger Jane provide the music for the dance. Connor has been working on the crew since three days before we actually began filming. He returned to crew camp with us while Candace stayed with her new trail family. It was a fun "wedding."

--Candy Moulton