Mike Nesbitt, of Olympia, fires his musket during the Black Powder Shooting contest on Saturday at Tenino's Oregon Trail Days.
Black Powder shooters check their targets during the morning's portion of the Oregon Trail Days contest on Saturday at the City Park in Tenino.
Suzanne Thompson, of West Jordan, Utah, left, checks her target during the Black Powder Shooting contest which kicked off Saturday at Tenino's Oregon Trail Days.
Jerry Charlton, of Montesano, left, shoots his 48-inch barrel musket as Al Thompson, of Vancouver, looks on during the Black Powder Shooting contest on Saturday at Tenino's Oregon Trail Days.
A member of the T90 Motorcycle Drill Team ride through Sussex Avenue in downtown Tenino prior to the start of the Oregon Trail Days Parade on Saturday.
Pee Wee football cheerleaders parade down Sussex Avenue in Tenino during the Oregon Trail Days parade in 2014.
Candy is thrown out of a limousine during Tenino's Oregon Trail Days parade on Saturday.
A member of the Fantasia Twirling Corps flips her baton as she parades down Sussex Avenue in Tenino during Saturday's Oregon Trail Days parade.
A member of the Fantasia Twirling Corps flips her baton as she parades down Sussex Avenue in Tenino during Saturday's Oregon Trail Days parade.
Members of the Fantasia Twirling Corps flips her baton as she parades down Sussex Avenue in Tenino during Saturday's Oregon Trail Days parade.
Hundreds of people lined Sussex Avenue in downtown Tenino to watch Saturday's Oregon Trail Days Parade.
Nearly two dozen people competed in the Black Powder Shooting contest on Saturday at Tenino's Oregon Trail Days.
Smoke engulfs Jerry Charlton, of Montesano, as he fires his musket during the Black Powder Shooting contest at Tenino's Oregon Trail Days in 2014.
Jerry Rowland leads the T90 Motorcycle Drill team down Sussex Avenue in Tenino as they warm up the crowd prior to the start of the Oregon Trail Days parade on Saturday in Tenino.
The T90 Motorcycle Drill Team warms up the crowd prior to the start of the Oregon Trail Days parade on Saturday in downtown Tenino.
A frightening member of the Bucoda Haunted House hands out a flyer to a kid during the Oregon Trail Days parade on Saturday in Tenino.
TENINO — Blacksmith Rusty Young, of Lake Stevens, sat with his husky, Woof, in the city park Saturday afternoon making iron spatulas, grills and dinner bells during the annual Oregon Trail Days.
“It’s something people don’t get to see anymore,” Young, 65, said.
Young, who resembles a pioneer with his gray beard and worn clothes, became a blacksmith about three decades ago after spending his youth working at a foundry.
“When I was a kid I was at a foundry. Watching metal pour, I found it interesting,” Young said.
Young was one of many people from around the region who honored their pioneer roots at Oregon Trail Days. Some people dressed in authentic 1880s attire to live like pioneers, while others came for the parade Saturday morning and childrens games in the park.
History exhibits were held all weekend at the Tenino Depot Museum, including stone carving, apple cider making and cannon-firing every hour.
The quarry pool, which opened July 5, offered a place for people to cool off.
Leslie Crow, of Yelm, and her family spent Saturday showing off their 18-foot high teepee, which is covered in paintings of various Northwest wildlife. Crow said her family has taken their canvas teepee to Oregon Trail Days for the past 20 years.
“We bought this here for $200. It was just a big white teepee,” Crow said. “Now it’s worth way more.”
Crow and her husband spend Friday night in their teepee. The Crows’ children had their own teepees that they planned to set up nearby.
One of the largest draws to Oregon Trail Days each year is the black powder shoot. The muzzleloading group, Puget Sound Free Trappers, has hosted the shoot for the past 37 years.
The group, part of the Capitol City Rifle and Pistol Club, invited the public to shoot with black powder Saturday morning and afternoon.
Steve Skillman, a member of the Puget Sound Free Trappers, said black powder shooting takes a lot more patience than shooting other guns. Often times, Skillman said, younger kids do not like loading the muzzle all for one shot.
“Some people bait fish and some people fly fish. Some people play checkers and some people play chess,” Skillman said. “We like the more complex.”
Oregon Trail Days, which started about a half century ago, has become an annual rendezvous for the participants. Young said he looks forward to the event each year and hopes to pass down his blacksmith skills to the younger generation of participants he considers family.
“I started coming here in the early 1990s. I figured out the people here are family. They all treat you really well,” Young said.
