A TRIP through Washington pioneer history awaits thousands of elementary-school children when they visit the Pioneer Village and Willis Carey Historical Museum in Cashmere. Operated by the non-profit Chelan County Historical Society and maintained with funds raised through contributions and membership dues, the complex attracted 40,000 students in 1972, including some from Western Washington. The society was organized in 1956 and the museum was dedicated three years later. Approximately 800 volunteers worked on the 5,400-square-foot museum, which houses the Carey collection of Indian artifacts and pioneer relics, and the village. Presently a 30-by-70 foot wing, which will contain natural-history and anthropological items and an exhibit of Columbia River archeology, is being constructed. "Our 300 members are very active," said John McDonald, president of the society. "Not only did they help get the idea for a museum going, but they have continued to work vigorously on numerous projects ever since." The Museum, which is open daily during the summer months, is staffed by volunteer hostesses. Any adult or children's group wishing to make arrangements for a late-summer or winter tour should write to the Chelan County Historical Society in Cashmere. The Village, which has received numerous additions in recent years, includes a mission, assay office, gold mine, blacksmith shop, general store, log school, barbershop and cabins. The Mission is the lone facsimile, the remainder are refurbished originals placed on concrete slab. The mission is a duplicate of a structure established between 1856 and 1863 by the Oblate Fathers in Northcentral Washington. Most of the buildings were trucked to the village, so from a considerable distance within the state. Recent arrivals, on which renovation work is now being performed, include cabins, a doctor's and dentist's office, jailhouse and a saddle and shoe shop. Recognized as on of the state's foremost historical groups in the 1961, the society was awarded the National Award of Merit by the American Association for State and Local History for its outstanding work in presentation and marking of historical sites and for building the museum. This year it was selected to participate in the United States bicentennial celebration in 1976. This means, according to McDonald, that a special exhibit of items used 200 years ago in Washington, will be constructed at the Cashmere site for the occasion. |