Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fiddlin' Around in Fiddletown

After enjoying Napa, it was time to go up the hill and visit with some friends in Pioneer, CA. This is a beautiful area, with lots of log houses (I wouldn't call them cabins) among a variety of conifer trees.


The deer are very friendly, especially when they get fed. I was worried they were getting too unafraid of people, but I was assured that there were no hunters in the area.


On Saturday, we all headed over to the Fiddlers' Jam Fiddle Contest in Fiddletown.


This is an old gold mining town. It was named Fiddletown because it was settled in 1849 by a party from Missouri who spent all their time fiddling. I guess they weren't very successful gold miners.



We missed the actual fiddle contest, but made it for the entertainment.


I was wondering what this guy had in his jug.


But it turns out that was his instrument.



There was a room where everyone could jam when they weren't on stage.


After leaving Pioneer, we went over the mountains to Carson City, NV, and saw yet another capitol building.


It's a small building, and has only one statue - Sarah Winnemucca. Sarah is famous for having tried to ease the friction between her people, the Paiute Indian tribe, and the white people. She was also the author of the first book ever published that was written by a Native American woman.


The statue had some interesting detail on the fringe of her dress.


The Capitol had a small museum inside. This elk horn chair was used by President Theodore Roosevelt during his visit to the Capitol. Ouch!

8 comments:

  1. I took my car through a car wash in Carson City NV I wish I had taken time to visit that Capitol Building!! But we had been on the road for 20 days without rain so the carwash was on the top of the list!!!
    WOW what great music, each Saturday night on one of the HD Public stations we watch Mountain Song and the Woodsong Radio Hour..this type music reminds me of that and my TN MT. ROOTS--ever notice how banjo players only move their fingers--amazing!!
    Love the deer!!!!

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  2. I thought maybe that jug was some of Granny's (Beverly Hill Billie's) Triple X special remedy mix!

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  3. I enjoyed the fiddle music. The first one reminds me of Ireland. :)

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  4. The statue is beautiful. I've never seen anything like it. Would like to have seen how they made the fringe. Thanks for your informative and entertaining Blog posts.

    Miss you-

    Linda

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  5. My goodness you are getting around. If you are still in the Carson City area you might enjoy Virginia City.

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  6. That is a NICE log cabin, for sure. I would have loved the fiddle music.

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  7. Ouch is right I would not want to sit on that lol I loved this post and all the little facts that you added. I loved the picture of the deer awwww they are so pretty and just a eating away at that food. Thanks so much for sharing, hope you have a happy weekend!

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  8. Hi,
    This is the artist that made the Sarah Winnemucca statue. With the help of a very talented foundryman we took bronze rod and annealed it. When it became soft enough we tied one end into a drill and the other to a vice. We spun the rod using the drill. it was then cut to length, and welded on one by one. After each fringe was welded on, Ryan (the welder) re heated it and I took used my hands (welding gloves on of course) and swept them along the heat-softened metal. We then sandblasted the sculpture which removed the anneal and froze them in place. Look up the video about it on my website for more info. "Sarah Winnemucca, The Dream Fulfilled". Thank you for including my art on your blog, and thank you for the great questions.

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