Memorial Day, Jim Baker and the Savery Museum
The Savery Schoolhouse swingset and slide that has terrified generations of kids
Savery, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
In rural communities (and many urban families), Memorial Day retains its original inspiration—remembering the dead. Four generations of my immediate family are buried at the local cemetery. All four of my father’s grandparents are interred at the Reader Cemetery, named after the first homestead family in our valley, and located on their original ranch.
For us, Memorial Day usually means lots of company, as family members come to honor their dead and reunite with their living. A short, multi-denominational service is held at the cemetery, which is decorated in its floral glory for a few days. A barbeque follows at the Savery Schoolhouse, now the local museum. It is a potpourri potluck of salads and desserts, with guys on grills turning out hamburgers and hot dogs. This year Chuck Larson and I entertained with cowboy poetry, and old timers manned the outbuildings for storytelling. The museum grounds are crowded with old buildings that have been moved to the site, including a pioneer home, furnished in the manner of the early 1900’s.
The best addition to the museum grounds is the original cabin of Mountain Man Jim Baker, who trapped and adventured with the likes of Jim Bridger. He settled in the Little Snake River Valley, as he reckoned it to be the best place in the West. The old cabin is built of adze hewn logs and features gun ports on the second floor. Baker outlived several wives, as he successively married four Native women and fathered several children.
Chuck Larson versifying
Savery Schoolhouse
Savery, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
