• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Menu
Community Library Logo
Search
  • Search the CATALOG for books and more
  • Search the CALENDAR for programs and events
  • Search the WEBSITE for general information
  • I Want To
    • Use My Library Account
    • Get a Library Card
    • Reserve a Room
    • Find Books and More
    • Renew or Place a Hold
    • Request an Item
    • Digital Collections
    • Computers and Printing
    • Ask a Librarian
  • Visit
  • Use the Library
    • Books, eBooks, and More
    • Children’s and Young Adult Library
    • Research and Learn
    • Center for Regional History
    • Computers and Printing
    • Reserve a Room
    • Library Policies
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Programs and Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Program Archive
    • Regional History Museum/Exhibits
    • Children’s and Young Adult Library
    • Ernest Hemingway Seminar
    • Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit
    • To Taste Life Twice Seminar
  • Hemingway
    • Hemingway House and Preserve
    • Writer-in-Residence Program
    • Ernest Hemingway Seminar
  • Our Story
    • Staff and Board of Trustees
    • Library Blog
    • Newsletters and Reports
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • Gold Mine Stores
Give and Support
  • The Community Library
  • Gold Mine Stores
  • Center for Regional History
    • Regional History Museum/Exhibits
    • Hemingway in Idaho
    • Regional History Reading Room
    • Historic Photographs
The Community Library Association
  • The Community Library
  • Gold Mine Stores
  • Center for Regional History
  • Get a library card
  • I want to
    I Want To
    • Use My Library Account
    • Reserve a Room
    • Find Books and More
    More
    • Renew or Place a Hold
    • Request an Item
    • Use Our Digital Collections
    • Use a Computer/Print/Scan
    • Ask a Librarian
Community Library Logo
  • I Want To
    • Use My Library Account
    • Get a Library Card
    • Reserve a Room
    • Find Books and More
    • Renew or Place a Hold
    • Request an Item
    • Digital Collections
    • Computers and Printing
    • Ask a Librarian
  • Visit
  • Use the Library
    • Books, eBooks, and More
    • Children’s and Young Adult Library
    • Research and Learn
    • Center for Regional History
    • Computers and Printing
    • Reserve a Room
    • Library Policies
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Programs and Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Program Archive
    • Regional History Museum/Exhibits
    • Children’s and Young Adult Library
    • Ernest Hemingway Seminar
    • Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit
    • To Taste Life Twice Seminar
  • Hemingway
    • Hemingway House and Preserve
    • Writer-in-Residence Program
    • Ernest Hemingway Seminar
  • Our Story
    • Staff and Board of Trustees
    • Library Blog
    • Newsletters and Reports
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • Gold Mine Stores
Search
  • Search the CATALOG for books and more
  • Search the CALENDAR for programs and events
  • Search the WEBSITE for general information
Give & Support

Rear View: Wheels of Time

By Sabrina Brewer, Regional History Intern

2021.06.30001, Chamber of Commerce Collection, Regional History Museum

The young spectators in this photo from the Chamber of Commerce Collection are just a few of the thousands of people that line Ketchum’s Main Street over Labor Day weekend. They are here for Wagon Days, an annual festival that recognizes the region’s mining history and the infrastructure that made it possible. The finale of the event includes the Big Hitch, a team of twenty mules on a jerkline who pull six Lewis Ore Wagons, the only of their kind in existence. During the mining boom of the 1880s, Lewis Ore Wagons passed between Ketchum and Challis along Trail Creek Summit Road transporting ore and materials.

While the Lewis Ore Wagons are the highlight of the show, Wagon Days also includes lesser-known elements from the valley’s mining past. Pictured in this photo is a water wagon and accompanying commissary. Water wagons were an essential unit during this time as they were responsible for transporting water for the mules and men. The water wagons are also responsible for a few commonly used terms today. During the Temperance Movement of the early 20th century, phrases like ‘getting on the water wagon’ or ‘I’m on the water wagon now’ were used to indicate that someone was no longer drinking alcohol. To ‘fall off the wagon’ was to begin drinking again. You can learn more unusual historical tidbits at this year’s 65th Wagon Days celebration over Labor Day weekend.

Filed Under: Library Blog

Primary Sidebar

  • Staff and Board of Trustees
    • Board of Trustees Meeting Schedule
  • Library Blog
  • Newsletters and Reports
  • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
  • Gold Mine Stores
    • Gold Mine Donation Guidelines
    • Gold Mine Shopping Guide/FAQ
Comlib

Support the Library

The Community Library’s free resources and services reflect the generosity of community members like you!
Donate
Gold Mine Stores
Volunteer

The Community Library

Location

415 Spruce Ave. North
PO Box 2168
Ketchum, ID 83340

Hours

Sunday
closed
Monday
10:00am - 6:00pm
Tuesday
10:00am - 8:00pm
Wednesday
10:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday
10:00am - 8:00pm
Friday
10:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday
10:00am - 6:00pm

Contact

208.726.3493
info@comlib.org

About us

  • Our Story
  • Staff and Board
  • Give & Support
  • Volunteer

Site Map

  • Home
  • Visit The Community Library Association
  • Events
  • Programs and Exhibits
  • Use the Library
  • Catalog
Got a question? Ask Us

THE COMMUNITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

  • The Community Library
  • The Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History
  • The Gold Mine Stores

MAILING ADDRESS

PO Box 2168
Ketchum, ID 83340
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
2023 © The Community Library Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved | The Community Library is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization | Federal Tax ID 82-0290944