Hot dusty trails, bawling cattle and cowboys on horseback. An old western movie? No, true-to-life scenes back in the 1860s along the Southern Overland trail in San Diego County.
The history of local cattle drives and cattle ranching will take center stage during this year’s celebration of Vallecito Day, Saturday, March 28. Long-time local ranching families will be on hand to tell stories about the olden days and what life was like on those long-ago cattle drives.
The free ninth annual Vallecito Day event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the site of the reconstructed Butterfield Stage Station at Vallecito County Park. The stage station was a welcome oasis for thousands of travelers heading out west and was also a stop for the San Antonio-San Diego mail delivery service.
During the Civil War, Union volunteers marched east across the desert to ensure those regions wouldn’t fall to the Confederate Army in Arizona and New Mexico. They all stopped to rest at the stage station before moving on.
On Saturday, the Backcountry Horsemen of California and horseback riders from the Ramona Trails Association will wear period costumes and re-enact the delivery of the mail to the Vallecito stage station. Mountain men such as trappers and hunters will set up camp as they did in the 1800s. Re-enactors in period costume will give demonstrations on how the pioneers sparked fires with flint and steel, made soap and cooked on open hearths.
No food is available on site so take a picnic lunch. Vallecito Park is located south of Shelter Valley at 37349 County Route S-2 (Mile Marker 34-35) Vallecito Valley, CA 92036. For more on the park and how to get there, see these directions. For more information, call (760) 765-1188.
