004 (Grade 5) Slanted Wayside Panel: Port to the West 769 words / Panel Description: 5 minutes
In front of you, is a panel 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall, and about 3 feet off the ground, on dark brown painted aluminum posts. In metric, that is about 1 meter wide by a half meter tall, and about 1 meter off the ground. This exhibit is set within a mulched area, about 8 feet by 10 feet, or 2.3 meters by 3 meters. This area is planted with small bushes and a small tree, along the curb of the street. Beyond the panel, and in front of you, is Broadway Boulevard. To your left, is Westport Road. In the middle of Broadway Boulevard, is a plaza, about 25 feet by 180 feet, or 7 meters by 55 meters. The plaza is mostly brick with some mulched areas for small plantings. There is a bronze sculpture near the center. This is Pioneer Park. Behind and to your right, are 1- and 2-story brick buildings with varied decorative rooflines.
Across the top of the panel, is a black banner that lists the partner organizations associated with the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails. Below the banner, in the center and right side, is white text on a reddish-brown background:
Port to the West. Downtown Westport was the place to be on a spring day in the 1850s. Travelers geared up here before hitting the overland trails. Imagine the dusty streets crowded with wagons, animals, and people. Travelers stream into town from the steamboat landing 4 miles, or 6.4 kilometers, away. Traders load boxes of hardware and cloth to sell in Santa Fe. Trappers, prospectors, and families buy supplies for their journeys to Oregon and California. Merchants are selling tools and food. Blacksmiths and carpenters are fitting wagons for the trail. Dogs bark and people shout. Business is booming, and excitement fills the air.
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To the left of the text, is an image of an off-white, rough-edged piece of paper. This is a fictional traveler’s shopping list for a stop in Westport. Several items are already crossed off: wagon, team of oxen, pack mules, and bacon. Other items remaining on the list are: water barrel, ropes, axe, saw, hammer, shovel, Dutch oven, iron skillets, flour, hardtack, rice, beans, coffee, and sugar.
A color illustration of a bustling street fills the panel. On the right side, is a store with tall glass windows framed in cast iron. A woman and 2 men stand near the doorway. In front of the store, is a slatted wooden platform with barrels and baskets filled with green cabbages and red tomatoes. 2 women stand in front of the barrels and look at the scene before them. The woman on the left wears a deep blue dress with an iridescent brown skirt. The woman on the right wears a brown dress with a white apron and a white bonnet. Both women hold white bags in their arms. To the left, a man steps off the wooden platform with a large sack on his back. In the street, are 5 wooden wagons in various stages of loading. In the foreground at left, on the closer side of the street, is a wagon led by 2 dark brown mules. A man wearing dark brown pants and an olive green jacket, reaches over the right end of the wagon. His hands grab onto the cream-colored canvas. On the right side of the wagon, an African American man loads a sack on the back of a third mule. He is wearing dark brown pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, a light blue vest, and a brown bowler hat. To his left, a boy looks toward the man and readies another sack on the ground for loading. To the boy’s left, a white dog with brown spots looks around. To the right of this group, is a man wearing brown pants, a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and a red vest. He is fixing a broken spoked wheel. Near his feet, a brown dog walks away from him. Another man approaches him with a large, spoked wheel. He is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a green vest and an off-white brimmed hat. Behind the 2 men, is a covered wagon led by 2 mules. This wagon is headed right, toward a rural landscape. On the far side of the street, several people load 3 wagons with sacks and boxes. The far side of the street is lined with attached 2-story buildings in various shades of brown. On the first story, are large storefront windows, some with awnings. The buildings have varying rooflines and most have 3 windows on the second story. Off in the distance, to the right, are green fields and hills.
