Nichole: Can you tell us a little more about the sheep wagons, how they get here, where they go afterward?

Heather: Yeah, that's a great question. So this year we kind of have a, it's a little bit different as far as the wagons we have.

That wagon down there is from Kansas. They traveled all the way from Kansas so that we could see their wagon. They're the McElrays. This wagon is Lane and Felicia Shenderlein’s. They're part of the Crow Tribe. And then the next wagon was made by our local high school. They made it in their shop class or their CTE (Career and Technical Education) class. And then this one is a Hoss Port wagon. He's an up-and-coming designer out of Colorado of sheep wagons. This is the randomness. People are like, "Oh, I think that's a Hoss Port wagon." And you're, "Okay." And then the next one was made by the other high school.

This one that they're standing at, that's Grace. She is our resident mascot sheep. And then this is the one that we have usually, in the annex where kids can go in, or people can go in and actually see. Then the next one is one of our... We have a 90-year-old file clerk that works for us.

That's his title, but he does everything, and that's his wagon. And then the last wagon is the Daly wagon, probably from the 1920s, all original. And so when you go through to look at them, you get, you really, every one of them is like a fingerprint in that they're totally different, and how they store things and where the table is, and if there's, if there's a stove in it, or how did they...

Like, both of these little wagons have no stove, no way to cook, no any of that. So you just see something, like the kids saw something different, and they don't know some of the things like having something to latch the door to. So they are completely different, and we just invite people to come through to see that part of history. 

Note: This was recorded live at the Sheepherder’s Festival in Gillette, WY and includes background crowd noise.

The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.