Whoop-Up Country event offers a visit to the past

By Sulz, Dave on August 12, 2020.

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

Fort Whoop-Up Interpretive Society will host a Whoop-Up Country event Saturday and Sunday as part of Alberta Open Farm Days.

The event will be held at 202002 Township Road 74 in Lethbridge County, just off of Highway 4 to Stirling. In addition to early agricultural interpretation and other activities, the society will also be recognizing the 150th anniversary of Fort Whoop-Up with birthday cake and the firing of the Whoop-Up Cannon.

The activity lineup will include a horse-drawn Parade of Power, stagecoach rides, chore-horse competition and a Wilson Colony mini-farmers’ market.

The Thunderchief Room will be displaying and interpreting Blackfoot heritage and culture and presenting Federal Indian Agricultural Policy history.

The schedule includes:

– Concession (11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday)

– Kids’ steer roping (12-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday)

– Horse-Drawn Interpretive Wagon Tours (12-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday)

There will also be a horse-drawn vehicle and farm implements display; sheepherding stock dog demonstration; Steele Scouts horses and ranching; heritage firearms display; pet and feed the lambs; and Mercer Seeds cereal crops – then and now.

Sunday-only activities include a wheelwright demonstration at 1 p.m. and Pearl’s Equine Therapy – chiropractic demonstration (11 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Fort Whoop-Up Interpretive Society operated the Fort Whoop-Up reconstruction started by the Kinsmen in 1967 from 1973 until 2015. The society is rebuilding in Lethbridge County returning to its pre-1985 interpretive model which includes agriculture.

Details about the weekend event can be found online at albertafarmdays.ca/farm/fort-whoop-up-frontier-town/.

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