The best bet this weekend is the always delicious and historically accurate chuck wagon cook-off.
The La Plata-Archuleta Cattlemen’s Association will hold its annual cook-off at 5 p.m. Saturday at La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. This year’s event will feature five chuck wagons, each with a “master cook” and an accompanying crew.
Meals will be reminiscent of the 1800s and include five categories: meat, potatoes, beans, bread and dessert. The Cattlemen’s Association will supply the same ingredients to each wagon, and food preparation is up to the cooks and crews. A panel of community members will judge food categories according to taste, aroma and appearance.
Wagons can carry spices, pots, utensils and anything else that would have been found during the 1800s, such as a bed roll, kerosene lantern, wash basin, items for shaving, block and tackle, coffee grinder, some tobacco, etc. Each wagon is a historical replica and will be judged for its authenticity.
The five wagons competing include:
Harry Baxstrom of Bayfield will present his wagon, which he built in 2001 as a historical replica of an 1886 trail wagon.Rodney and Kristie Carriker, who live west of Cortez near McElmo Canyon, will present their wagon, which they and their team of Percheron horses use to provide tourist trips to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.Davin Montoya of Hesperus, representing Montoya Cattle Co., will present his 1880-style ranch wagon, which he and his company use to provide Old West meals for weddings and other parties in the area.Dave Wade of Rye will present his mountain trails chuck wagon, which is painted blue and gray and set up as a trail wagon. Sandy Cooper of Durango, with her crew from Durango Cowboy Church, will present a ranch-built wagon originally used on ranches during the late 1800s and early 1900s in Montana. The wagon, often featured in competitions, will be pulled by two mules named Sunny and Breezy.The team that wins best meal and most authentic wagon will be presented a belt-buckle trophy.
The event will also feature live Western music by Joe Ice.
Tickets cost $20 and include a meal and drink. They are available at Basin Coop, 26103 U.S. Highway 160.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2NNfl4l.
Outdoor movie: “Coco,” 8:30 p.m., Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield.
National Dance Day, 9 a.m., Durango Dance, 1120 Main Ave.
Four Decades of Preserving History, 1 p.m., Animas Museum, 3065 West Second Ave., 259-2402.
Historical Ghost Walk Tour, 6 p.m., $15, Durango School District 9-R, 201 E. 12th St., https://bit.ly/2uEdOaT.
Historical Ghost Walk Tour, 6 p.m., $15, Durango School District 9-R, 201 E. 12th St., https://bit.ly/2uEdOaT.
