Sample life in the 1800s this weekend

Camps are set up, the cowboys and mountain men have arrived, and gunslingers are headed here for the Showdown at Sundown competition.

It’s Ramona Old West Days 2015 on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ramona Outdoor Community Center, 421 Aqua Lane

The early arrival of 1800s encampments was for Ramona’s fourth- and fifth-graders, who visited them and had the opportunity to ask questions and take pictures Thursday and Friday. The rain on Friday dampened the experience for some of the students, but the re-enactors met with them in the ROCC Pavilion where they were protected from the weather.

Students from Barnett, Hanson and Mt. Woodson elementary schools participated Thursday, and Ramona Elementary, James Dukes and Ramona Community students on Friday.

“This is at no charge to the visiting public,” event coordinator and Ramona resident Jim Cooper said. “Our goal is education and entertainment.”

About 825 students visited the encampments last year.

“I have received nothing but positive feedback from that experience from both the kids and the parents,” said Cooper.

Suttler’s Row, a selection of 1800s period vendors, will present period costumes and other items Saturday and Sunday. Food also will be available.

“The main feature for Saturday and Sunday will be the Re-enactors Gunfight Skit Contest, where the best of the best re-enactment groups from California, Arizona and Nevada will compete for trophies and cash prizes,” said Cooper.

Guns of the Round Table sponsors the skit contest.

“The groups that have been invited to this event are those that have consistently been top award winners throughout the three Western states,” said Cooper. “They have honed their skills over many years and will bring their very best skits to Ramona for this competition.”

Each group will present a skit that could have occurred in the Old West, “with added emphasis on audience entertainment,” said Cooper.

Helping Cooper stage Old West Days is Ramona resident Steve Johnson, who will be Doc Holliday Old West Days. Cooper will be the mountain man at the pyramid tent with all the period gear, including flintlock rifles, tomahawks, beaver hides and everything else a mountain man would have had in the 1830s.

Another feature on Saturday will be a costume contest. The audience will judge. Categories will depend on the number of contestants.

“Everyone is invited to participate, but remember, period authenticity is the key to winning, so bring your finest on Saturday,” said Cooper.

Rarely seen without his cowboy hat, Cooper is steeped in history. His father had a Wild West encampment group, a Western swing band and a fast-draw group, and Cooper has been involved since the 1950s.

Old West Days visitors will find everything from the rugged mountain men who ventured into the Western wilderness to the pioneer families heading West.

Those going West from 1825-40 “represent the free American spirit at its finest,” said Cooper. By the mid-1800s, the quest for free land attracted pioneer families.

“Several examples of these venturous traveling families are presented in their stop-over settings,” said Cooper.

The Civil War from 1861-65 affected the migration, but “afterwards, large numbers of single men ventured west seeking a better life,” continued Cooper. “Lacking actual moneys but willing to work hard, many discovered thousands of head of longhorn cattle.”

Joseph McCoy built stockyards in Kansas, cattle drive routes were created and from the late 1860s through the 1870s, “cattle was king,” Cooper said.

“One of the mainstays was the chuckwagon, that traveling combination of store and diner,” he added. “...The Wild West towns and the American cowboy culture were born.”

Visitors will see a traveling tent saloon and hear cowboy re-enactors talk about life on the Plains.

“You are invited to visit each encampment, listen to what they’re doing, ask questions, take pictures and join them in celebrating our rich American history,” said Cooper. “Virtually everything you see is authentic and correct to the period and have been carefully collected over many years by each participant.”

Among sponsors are Kiwanis Club of Ramona, Guns of the Round Table and Ramona Outdoor Community Center.

From its start three years ago, Ramona Old West Days has grown.

“The goal is to continue to grow the event to make it a premier draw for the encampment people and the re-enactment community for the public’s enjoyment,” said Cooper. “I can’t promise it will always be free, but for this year it’s free to the public.”

Anyone wishing more information may contact Cooper at 760-789-1097.