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Karen Haas brings the Oregon Trail experience to Chehalis library performance

Performing artist and historian Karen Haas shares the songs, stories and experiences of the pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail. Costumed in authentic 1850s attire, Haas will perform a living history presentation, “Westward Ho!” at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 22 at the Chehalis Timberland Library, located at 76 NE Park Street, Chehalis. The presentation is for an adult to school-age audience and is free. The Friends of the Chehalis Timberland Library are providing light refreshments after the program.

“Imagine taking a six-month trip with your family and all their belongings in a wagon the size of a small car. That's what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail!” said Haas. Learning how to use a flint and steel and how butter was churned at the back of the wagon will give the audience a feel for daily life on the trail. Haas also poses an important question for pioneers: Should they bring horses or oxen? “I'll even discuss what the pioneers actually used to fuel their campfires—yuck!” said Haas.

Haas lightens the travails of the trail with tunes she plays on jaws harp and harmonica, songs such as Sweet Betsy from Pike, Old Joe Clark and Old Dan Tucker, and stories that convey a feeling for the times. She tells “How Zebulon ‘Windwagon’ Thomas found a new way to power his covered wagon—and sailed into history,” “How the Native Americans looked into the stars and saw stories,” and “The ghostly white wolf with red, red eyes”.

Haas is Curator of Education at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn. She is active in re-enactments at northwest historic sites such as Fort Nisqually, Fort Steilacoom and San Juan Islands National Historic Park. Her “Westward Ho” presentation opens the Lewis County Historical Museum’s Oregon Trail Days events in Chehalis and Centralia, which continue through April 29. For more information on these events, people can contact the Chehalis library at (360) 748-3301.

Revised 04/07/06