Ketchum, Idaho: BIG SHEEP PARADE

It's spelled with capitals, because the BIG SHEEP PARADE is a big deal. Today, October 8, 2023, my friends and I saw 1,200 sheep walk through downtown Ketchum, ID, followed by three excited sheepdogs and many equally excited two-legged humans. It was the send off event of the 27-year old Trailing of the Sheep Festival. Started by local ranchers John and Diane Peavey to educate the public and also preserve dwindling sheep pasture, the festival is now attended on average by 25,000 visitors and is considered one of the best fall festivals in the world.

Before the parade my friend Leslie and I attended a Q&A with famous local ranchers John and Tom Peavey and former Ketchum Mayor Jerry Seiffert. While our friend Kathy tried to warm a cold bench on the parade route, we educated ourselves on the sheep industry in Idaho. Now there are only 210,000 sheep in Wood River Valley, but at one time it replaced silver mining as the big employer in the valley, with millions of sheep. In the early 1900s, more sheep shipped out of Ketchum than anywhere in the United States. (See Life on the Range for the full story of John Peavey and his ranching history.)

Here are some other facts: you need 900 sheep to form a "band." (In a previous post our dinner mates said they had "just a few" sheep (e.g. 30) and I thought that was not "a few" but a whole lot. I now stand corrected.) A good guard dog (aka sheepdog) is worth $3,500 and will defend its herd to the death. A guard dog is classified as livestock, and is only barely domesticated. According to the Peaveys, sheep can mitigate the risk of forest fire by eating grass that could catch fire. And only a foolish rancher overgrazes the land.

Wool brings in enough cash to make it worth the shearing, which is done every spring. The Peaveys have bred their sheep to arrive at a wool micron count of 19. Anything below 20 is considered the finest of wool. (A search of Google informs me that a micron is the measurement of the diameter of a wool fibre. Merino wool is the finest and usually measures between 15 and 25 microns but can be finer still. . Generally, wool begins to feel itchy above 22 microns.)