Celebration starts Saturday

Any 150th anniversary is worthy of a celebration and Green River’s will take place Saturday near the Union Pacific Depot.

Starting at 10 a.m., the city, along with the chamber of commerce, Green River URA/Main Street and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum will host a tent town celebration for the town’s sesquicentennial.

According to Brie Blasi, Sweetwater County Historical Museum director, Union Pacific documents state the town was founded Oct. 1, 1868.

However, according to the Aug. 11, 1868, edition of the Frontier Index newspaper, town ordinances were already advertised. She said while the celebration is based on that official U.P. date, the actual founding date for the town is unknown.

The tent town celebration starts with a brass band performance by the Green River High School band, followed by an address by Mayor Pete Rust at 10 a.m.

A children’s egg race, followed by a children’s sack race, take place at 10:30 a.m., and 11 a.m., respectively, while the first of three public depot tours, hosted by Blasi, also starts at 11 a.m.

Other activities, including several costume contests and performances take place throughout the day. The event wraps up with a street party from 5-10 p.m.

According to Amanda Cavaz, the city’s communications administrator, the tent town will feature a root beer saloon, teepees with historical re-enactors giving presentations, and old-fashioned barber shop, an old west photo booth, a jail-and-bail fundraiser hosted by the Hole in the Wall Gang to support the Sweetwater County Food Bank and other attractions. Food will also be sold at the event. Union Pacific will also host a chance for residents to get close to one of the company’s locomotives, which will be on display nearby in celebration of the Transcontinental Railroad’s 150 anniversary, which also takes place this year.

Cavaz said the main reason they chose the depot was due to its connections to Green River’s history. The depot, originally built in 1910, was a symbol of the town’s prosperity according to Blasi. The event also serves as an opportunity for the city to show off the progress made on the depot.

Cavaz said the tent town idea came from images she found of the area during the towns early days. People lived in canvas tents and log cabins before permanent buildings were constructed.

The anniversary of the railroad and city isn’t the only historic anniversary on the calendar. Blasi said the 150th anniversary of Maj. John Wesley Powell’s exploration of the Colorado River, which started in Green River, takes place in May.