A new light on the Old West
<p>Alison Harris, a fourth-grader at Ponderosa Elementary School in Post Falls, pets Teddy, a horse brought in by school board member, Dave Paul, as Jordan Rice stands and waves before taking a ride Thursday during Ponderosa Rendezvous. Approximately 100 fourth grade student participated in the event that included 10 different stations where students learned about what is was like to live in the American Old West.</p>
<p>Hali Harmon saws a portion of a log with a fellow fourth-grader at a station aimed at teaching logging practices of the past.</p>
<p>Wyatt Cangelosi smiles before making a soft pouch Thursday during a Native American crafts station at Ponderosa Elementary.</p>
POST FALLS - After Sheridan Estep rode Teddy the horse, she hopped off and let out an emphatic, "Woah! Yeah!" with a wide smile.
Learning about Idaho history in class was one thing for Estep and her fourth-grade Ponderosa Elementary classmates, but seeing it, feeling it and even tasting it outside on Thursday during the Pat Triphahn Memorial Rendezvous was another.
Students, donning Native American regalia, coonskin caps and other outfits in history, soaked in 10 Old West stations, including archery, cast-iron cooking, a wagon ride, a Cavalry camp, a medical tent and a teepee.
They were also treated to a performance by the youth Shooting Stars dancers from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
For many students, the experiences were a first and they went away with a better understanding that life wasn't easy in the 1800s.
At the infantryman's camp, they nibbled on hardtack, hard cracker squares, while checking out the bare-bone necessities that a soldier could carry on his back.
"It's gross," student Ricky Blaski said of the snack. "Is there grass in this?"
Infantryman Jim Teague told the students that times were different back then.
"We were required to bathe once a week, and the soldiers looked forward to it," he said.
He showed off an entrenching tool that soldiers used to take cover.
"You'd be surprised at how fast I could dig when someone was shooting at you," Teague said.
At the teepee, students learned that Native Americans dined on camas root and used elk teeth in women's dresses as a sign of wealth and to show the family was good hunters.
Teamwork was a necessity when forester Paul Wagner had students try their hand at using a crosscut saw. After they caught on to just pull on their end and not push, students kept their cut-off log piece as a souvenir.
Curiosity is part of learning at the event. Students got more than they bargained for when they asked to see the teeth of Teddy, the roping horse they had ridden.
"He has giant cavities," student Kadin Stowers said when he saw brown stains on the horse's teeth.
"This is what you'd look like in the morning if you didn't brush your teeth," volunteer Dave Paul told the kids.
Always a favorite at the rendezvous, named after a former Ponderosa teacher who started the event about 20 years ago, is firing the canon.
Teacher Gail Teeter, who is retiring after 30 years, had the honor to kick off the program while state school Superintendent Tom Luna closed it out with another blast.