by: Bobby McDonald

Ssh! Ssh! Don't tell anyone, but they are still counting sheep in Wood River Valley, Idaho! If you don't believe it, just mark your calendar for mid-October and attend the Trailing of the Sheep Festival in the twin-village area of Ketchum and Hailey, located in the valleys below Galena Peak Summit. You're sure to sleep well and enjoy the fresh autumn mountain air that Ernest Hemingway grew to love at the turn of the nineteenth century, when the area became the first of the premier ski resorts for the rich and famous.

While the eclectic were donning skis and sharpening their skills on classic manuscripts, the lonely Basque shepherds were herding vast herds of sheep in the grassy meadows high up in the surrounding mountains. What one observer called "a massive sea of wool," became an economic "boom" for the reigion. From 1881 to 1917, the sheep industry was "king" in the Ketchum-Hailey area, second in the world only to Sydney, Australia, as a mutton and wool capital. Millions of woolly sheep have trailed the same mountain passes as skiers, that surround the Wood River Valley and Sun Valley, Idaho. To commemorate this still vital industry and preserve the historical heritage of the isolated region, the Trailing of the Sheep Celebration was inaugurated in October of 1997. The three day celebration provides a variety of family fun and adventure, amidst a laid-back atmosphere for pressure-free enjoyment.

It was the sheep, timber, and mining industries in southern Idaho that attracted the first Basque immigrants in the late 1880's. These distinctively agrarian, Spanish men, who had been reared in the north-central Spain region of the great Pyrenees Mountains, were familiar with agricultural pursuits. They adapted well to the ranges of southern Idaho and soon wrote home from their small, self-contained wagons in the mountains, for their women and children to follow them to this country, to escape the tyranny in their homeland. A rich culture developed that continues to be the largest concentration of Basque people in America.

Don't go to Ketchum with the anticipation of a modern technological themed celebration. You'll only experience the basics......weathered shepherds, sheep wagons pulled by giant draft horses, shearing demonstrations, wool spinning, and working stock dog trials. If you're lucky, you'll get to taste the mouthwatering lamb chops at the Sun Valley Brewing Company, downtown Hailey. Piping hot sourdough bread as big as the saucer and swathering with fresh butter, then a large pitcher of locally brewed dark beer with a distinctive flavor, make for the perfect way to celebrate the local culture and end a day of feasting on the traditions of days-gone-by.

Anticipation is high, as the sheep herds continue to make their progress toward the villages. Scouts along the mountain passes continue to relay reports that the herds are coming, first 20 miles away, then fifteen, and even as close as ten miles, on the opening and second days of the festival.

Plan a visit to the Blaine County Historical Museum, when an exhibit displays the many, many facets of the sheep industry in southern Idaho. Pictures of early and prominent ranchers, wool buyers, and shepherds are on display, as well as a variety of tools and paraphenalia used in raising sheep and marketing wool. Exhibits denote the advances in education and the impact the early silver mining industry had on the region. However, it was the sheep industry that kept the railroads coming to the Wood River Valley Region and utimately brought the first major ski resort to Sun Valley in the 1930's.

Meanwhile, a stock dog trial is underway in a beautiful, yellow aspen splashed, open field, at the Peregrine Ranch. Focused and lithe Border Collie dogs appear on command behind a herd of five flighty ewes and simply by whistle commands slowly begin stalking their prey. An eight foot by eight foot wooden corral is located in the center of the field and the masterful shepherd instructs and encourages his dog toward penning the sheep.
Commands of "away-to-me," "lie down," "come-by," and "that'll do" can be heard as the artful dog performs a dancing performance before the crowd, in perfect control and rhythm. A single judge (a masterful sheep dog handler in his own right) sits in a small tent and measures each watchful move of the dog to place a score on the performance. Roars of applause erupt when the successful completion of the run results in a pen full of woolly creatures. Art in its basest form is rewarded with a simple affectionate pat on the head by the owner who beams with pride. According to Don Couch, President of the Intermountain Stock Dog Association, "Quality sheep dogs are a mainstay in the rugged mountains and rough terrain of Sun Valley and other ranching areas of the West, and can be the only contact a lonely shepherd has during his seasonal stays in the mountains. They are the life-blood of any ranting enterprise and serve as defender and protector for the sheep and stockman."

Mid-day of the second day of the festival, an open-air carnival atmosphere erupts in the Roberta McKercher Park on the edge of Hailey. Self-contained, wooden sheep wagons line-up along the edge of the spruce covered park and one learns of the lonely and intimate life the shepherd and his dog endures during their stay in the mountains. Authentic versions of the "homes on wheels" are displayed for the entire crowd, complete with Dutch-oven cooking of peach cobbler, hearty campfire beans, and the roasting of lamb on spit fires. Cooking is done just as the shepherd prepares his meals on the range and the taste-tempting, smoky aroma fills the park.

John Balderson, a professional sheepshearer for more than 40 years, sharpens the blades on his clippers and prepares to demonstrate to a standing-room-only crowd the art of shearing a sheep. In less than three minutes, Balderson has caught and sheared the sheep in a quiet and skillful manner that bespeaks of the skill he so masterfully possesses. He makes his living traveling from sheep ranch to sheep ranch, shearing thousands of head of sheep annually, using methods that have spanned the years of wool havesting.

Matronly women sit at spinning wheels and card and spin wool from bags that have been shorn from the sheep and cleaned for use. Destined for a wide-variety of uses, the process continues to relay an art form that has withstood time. During the climax of the wool industry, spinners wove the natural fiber for army blankets and uniforms destined for soldiers during World War I. Today, the colorfully dyed fibers are woven into beautiful handmade blankets, throws, coats, jackets, and woolen hats that both decorate homes and complete fashion statements, an art pure and simple.

A grissly gentleman takes the front stage and begins a recitation of a cowboy poem, complete with stanzas of loneliness and isolation in the mountains. A young maiden recites verses of her own version of what life was like in the village while her sweetheart tended sheep on the upper mountain range. Then, a hapless young man breaks into a lively verse of the great celebration of homecoming in the autumn, once the sheep had been grazed for the spring and summer. The passing of the seasons in the mountains is recorded in each line of rhyme.

Wait, is that the trill of a bagpipe that I hear? From across the way enters a Scottish Bagpipe Corps bedecked in tartan kilts to commemorate the early Scottish settlers that found Wood River and Sun Valley a pleasant place to live. Engaged mainly in ranching and the silver mining trade, the Scottish left their mark upon the region and are remembered in an artful rendition of the bagpipe music and dance. The Highlanders Band is one of the oldest pipe bands in the Northwest, formed in 1961, and continues to entertain with their sweet music and jigs.

Wooden hoops waving and arrayed in colorful reds, greens, and whites, the Oinkari Basque Dancers begin to enter stage left, behind their waving original national flag. Keeping perfect time to the diatonic or button accordian being skillfully played by an elderly native musician, the dancers begin a series of customary moves that trace their heritage back to their Spanish origins. Artful steps speak of fun and frivolity at the end of a season, when the sheep are once again brought home to the ranch and their seasonal coat of wool has been harvested for another year. The Oinkari Basque Dancers were first organized in 1960 and perform their sword dance, as well as other ethnic selections to denote their cultural heritage and presence in Idaho's colorful history.

Dressed in another form of regional costume, the Polish Highlanders begin their own entry to the stage with music and dance. This ethnic group entered the valley area just as the Basques, as herdsmen and shepherds. They brought their own customs, religion, and culture to Idaho, near the turn of the nineteenth century. Over one-hundred years later, their quaint style of dancing and the lively violin entertains the large crowd of festival goers. Stylish costumes decorated with intricate handwork and young ladies twirling their skirts to the handsome gents that promenade them across the grassy, make-shift dance floor, make for a picturesque setting in rural southern Idaho. A crowd favorite is the "axe dance" that features young gentlemen wielding axes and expertly maneuvering them to the rhythm of the traditional folk music that was brought to this country from the Tatra Mountain Region of Poland. The songs they perform were once used to communicate from mountain top to mountain top and valley to valley in their native European region.

As the sun sets over the mountains and the first glimpses of shining stars light the Idaho mountain sky, word is received that the vast herds of sheep are only five miles from town. Watchful sheep dogs monitor their every move and the herd is once again settled for the night.

Sunday dawn brings a flurry of activity on the mountainside, where shepherds begin the final "leg" of their journey and end months of isolated husbandry. Excitement is in the air. The end of the journey is in sight, but the woolly creatures they have tended must be safely delivered to the waiting pens beyond downtown Ketchum. Imagine having the "charge" of herding sheep through the downtown area of your own hometown, when the streets are lined with thousands of spectators!

Meanwhile, most of those spectators are enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning at Starbucks Coffee or one of the many quaint bookstores in Ketchum. Or, perhaps they are completing a shopping tour of the many arts and crafts shops dotted along the main street of the town. Regional native, Ivan Swaner, seventy years old, sits among the spectators at the Starbucks Coffee Shop and entertains the crowd with tales of his own days of shepherding. The shop is located in the Old Exchange Building, where deals for lamb, wool, and mutton shipments were made in days-gone-by. Swaner tells of those transactions and a variety of other customary stories involved with sheep and cattle ranching in Idaho. He fondly directs the crowd to the back of the building where still is emblazened the words that speak of the activity that once captivated the town of Ketchum. "Eat More Lamb" is painted in large letters on a fading brick wall of the building.

The faint sound of barking dogs and an occasional bleat of a sheep can be heard as the "main attractions" begin to enter the outskirts of town. Spectators line the main street three and four deep and provide a varied array of people......native ranchers and stockmen, tourists from every state, and the rich and famous from nearby Sun Valley. Each of them is intent upon paying respect to the woolly creatures that have brought everyone to the festival. Father Brian Baker, of the Ketchum Presbyterian Church, stations himself in the center of Main Street to begin the "blessing of the sheep."

Some fifteen hundred sheep file into downtown Ketchum, as Father Baker attempts to dust a sprinkling of salt on each of them for good luck. "The sheep are a blessing to this region, thus we want to give them our blessing and ask God to shine down on them," denotes the Father. "But, you've got to be very, very quick, as it only takes the massive herd about five minutes to dash by me!"

Sheep ranching techniques, stock dog performances, spinning of wool, a lesson in sheep shearing, and most importantly, a much, much deeper appreciation for the ethnic people who have made Wood River Valley, Idaho, a must-see destination on your traveling itinerary, make for a wonderful experience. Mark your calendars for a quaint visit back in time and a chance to experience a leisurely weekend away from the hurried world of the 21st Century. You're most assuredly going to see some of the most scenic mountain vistas and learn about the way life was sustained in the early 1900's in the West.

The Trailing of the Sheep Festival was the original "brainchild" of writer Diane Peavy and her sheep ranching husband, John. Along with help from many volunteer neighbors in the Ketchum, Hailey, and Bellvue, Idaho area, and the support of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber of Commerce, the festival has continued since its inception in 1997. Plans are underway for the 2005 celebration to be held this October 7-9. Make your reservations early, as space is limited in the small mountain towns, but, you too can be "counting sheep" come October!

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