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The Living Desert Museum

I spent a weekend revising old favorites and discovering new vistas on a weekend discovering the area around Bend, Oregon. One indoor attraction that caught my eye was the Living Desert Museum.

It’s always a treat to encounter a world-class facility in a largely rural area, but that is precisely what I found at the outstanding Living Desert Museum. Having been here twice in the past, but 13 to 15 years ago, I knew about what to expect, and welcomed the opportunity to replace my old 35mm slides with fresh digital images.

This indoor and outdoor complex features over 100,000 square feet of exhibits and living history demonstrations centered on the natural and cultural resources of the High Desert Country between the Rocky, Cascade and Sierra Mountains. Here, on 135 forested acres, lie more than 20,000 priceless Native American and pioneer artifacts, historic farm buildings, Western art, plus more than 100 wild animals living in natural habitats.

Countless special events are scheduled throughout the year, while daily presentations during the summer months include programs on a variety of wildlife topics. Accompanying photos show just a handful of the many displays and exhibits that you and your group will delight in here: historical artifacts and dioramas in the Henry L. Casey Hall of Plateau Indians, an antique Chevrolet U.S. Forest Service Truck, a bald eagle, pioneer cabin, and a particularly frolicsome pair of river otters, taken when they finally left the water behind and settled down long enough on the grass for me to get their picture.

high-desert-museum17Pioneer Cabin

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Henry L. Casey Hall of Plateau Indians