Glimpse into the past at Cowboy CityHISTORY: Nothing of our history is on display and kept a live for the present generation to enjoy. Several developed countries care for this fact very earnestly and create live situations of the past for the present day people to have a glimpse of the past. The most wonderful experience of this kind I had was in Australia a few years ago in the once gold mining city "Sovereign Hills". Americans who have only a few hundred years of history have taken the trouble everywhere to preserve the past and also create situations of the past for the people to know and to enjoy. The 'Bonnie Springs' in old Nevada is one such place I had the fortune to visit recently. The place is so unique the idea of sharing this with Artsscope came to my mind at the site itself. A 30-minutes drive from the great city of Las Vegas into the world famous Red Rock Canyon area will take you to "Bonnie Springs", a city created in the "Cow boy" style at the foot of Majestic peks. The drive through the dry desert area, full of Yucca the Barrel cactus, the prickly pear and the Joshua cactus is interesting. There is also a plant called "lords candle" with a long stem. They will burn for hours like a torch. About 200 years ago people had used these stems to walk about in the night. If you are lucky you would come across some wildlife too on this drive. Wild donkeys, horses, deer and elk and big horn sheep are found in the desert. In this trip we also saw some rabbits and a few donkeys. Entrance to the "Bonnie Springs" is interesting. You will be stopped near an old horse carriage by a cowboy or two who carry pistols. There is no check up. They would ask a few questions in the cowboy style and may even fire a few shots into the sky. Then you see buildings made with only wood and an old mini train stopped in front and a few horses moving around. This is Bonnie Springs - Old Nevada. It is built in a place where a ranch existed in 1843 as a stopover for wagon trains going to California down the old Spanish trail. Since 1952 this ranch has been used as a tourist attraction. This is a wonderful creation of the old couple Mr and Mrs Al and Bonnie who are living there at the entrance to this "Cowboy city" everyone would stop to read a monument erected to pay tribute to a great personality. At the city everyone is dressed in the cowboy style. They smoke only cigars. They speak only the slang language. You will see sudden gunfights on the streets and people being killed. They ride on horse back, shoot and vanish. The sheriff is the head of the Cowboy City and he commands and even orders "hangings". The "Hanging" is on display. As in the old Sri Lanka, the blacksmith "plays a major role in the "Cowboy" life. The old blacksmith is on display. One could knowhow the iron was melted and how knives and other tools were made. America is the "Land of fashion" today. For them it is very interesting see the saloon that existed 200 years ago. They are no different from our country saloons today. There are several shops that sell Cowboy souvenirs. Their culture could be understood with these stalls. The pipe, the cigars, pistols, wines, boots and the horse gear are among the key items. For me they speak of an agro-based gun culture. There is also a wax museum. Here one could see life-size cowboys. Wax museums are common in such displays in the world. There are also the wooden chapels that existed 200 years ago. The Bonnie Springs ranch has a zoo. There are hundreds of peacocks moving about freely. You are sure to see several peacocks dancing. They are so used to people and you could even touch them. There are horses for hire and visitors go into the famous "Red rock Canyon" on horse back and enjoy the entire day. |
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