“Westerns” were a cultural juggernaut when I was a boy. While it’s difficult for younger people to imagine today, walking through the wooden stockade gates into Frontierland back then felt like a really big deal. It was thrilling, and not “quaint” at all.
In those days, the shops in Disneyland carried unique and “land-specific” items that could only be found where they were thematically appropriate. Sitting on my desk is a small (but heavy) piece of that early Frontierland history. I have a very distinct memory of being smitten with a piece of “fool’s gold” or iron pyrite that was for sale in “The Frontier Rock Shop.” This was in the Davy Crockett Frontier Arcade, located where the Pioneer Mercantile sits today. I can still see the glass showcase that held these gleaming metal treasures (which I believed had been mined right there in Disneyland).
This memory is viewed in my mind’s eye from about the height I would have been in 1973. I was so excited to have the fool’s gold, and the moment that I chose it remains one of those anchors of joy that will hold my heart fixed to “The Park” forever. The constant presence in my life of this shiny little block of metal is testimony to the fact that I didn’t fail to respect every early keepsake from Disneyland. It has adorned my desk since I first brought it home, and it’s so much better in many ways than any photograph could ever be.
When I glance down at it, it’s like a tiny movie projector that plays images of…The great Wally Boag, comic star of the Golden Horseshoe Revue, spitting an endless supply of “teeth” from the stage of the Saloon…
…The sound and beauty of the “Big Thunder” waterfall roaring from Cascade Peak as I cruise by on the top deck of a Keel Boat…
…My view through a gun port as I “fire” my rifle from a tower of Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island…
…The panoramic views of Nature’s Wonderland as seen from the saddle of my pack mule…
…Or the incredible otherworldly beauty of Rainbow Caverns as observed from an ore car on the Mine Train…
All of these wonderful Frontierland experiences have one thing in common…they’re gone. But thankfully not all of the early Frontierland of Walt’s original park is gone. The canoes are still there, and the fact that we can paddle one today is a great gift that we should never fail to appreciate. It is genuinely an attraction “out of time” that I feel might be more true to Walt’s original vision of Frontierland than any other that remains.
Vicky and I never miss an opportunity to paddle the river, and I savor every “oar-collision” caused by a clumsy nearby child with no sense of timing. Who knows when the “bubble-wrap-the-world” set will find a way to rob us of this beautiful experience that has been shared by moms and dads and kids and sweethearts since July 4th, 1956. The adventure is likely to be even better when the Rivers Of America re-open (Walt’s spirit willing…) after the addition of the new show scenes and waterfalls at the “wilderness” end of the river brought about by the Star Wars alterations.
Imagine! What could be better than to see them for the first time from your canoe as the Mark Twain Riverboat and the trains of the Disneyland Railroad both steam by? So the next time you’re in Disneyland, remember to just keep walking past the stately Mark Twain towards Critter Country. Take the time to head down to the canoe dock and grab a paddle to help propel one of these beautiful canoes around the Rivers Of America. We all share a real opportunity – no, a responsibility – to participate in protecting this 60 year old attraction for the enjoyment of future generations. The more we paddle, the better the chances are that the canoes will remain in the years to come to link us to “Walt’s” Frontierland.
Please join us again for a Stroll Through Disneyland when we explore, among other things, the genius of Rolly Crump, and the future that never was. Happy paddling!
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