FILLMORE, Millard County—People involved in the sheep industry past and present will gather on March 7 (a week from Saturday) at the Utah Territorial Statehouse Park in Fillmore for the 23rd Old Sheepherder’s Gathering.

For most of those years, the gathering was held at the Border Inn on U.S. 50, just west of the Utah-Nevada border. But after Denise Koyle, long-time proprietor, sold the Border Inn, and the new owners didn’t care to host the gathering, it moved to a multipurpose center on the historic statehouse property.

Most of the sheep herders, shearers and truckers who attend the gathering, along with their families and friends, are from Utah, Sanpete, Millard and Beaver counties in Utah and White Pine and Lincoln counties in Nevada.

Typically, the attendees have one thing in common: They have herded sheep, and sometimes cattle, primarily during the winter months, on the so-called West Desert, which takes in millions of arid acres in western Utah and eastern Nevada.

Abe Johnson of Delta, who, with Koyle, has put together the program for the last couple of years, says of the gathering, “It’s got to keep going. It’s something that ties the whole area together.”

The people who attend carry in their memories the sheep trail that led from the northern Wasatch Plateau in the Fairview and Mt. Pleasant areas, through Salt Creek Canyon to Nephi, along U.S. 50 into Delta, and from there into rangelands west of the Nevada border.

Herders who grazed their sheep in Wasatch Plateau lands further south trailed their sheep into Gunnison. From Gunnison, a trail went across county roads to Scipio, and then due west into the West Desert.

Johnson remembers times in the 1950s when “there could be 1,000 sheep very easily” walking on streets through Delta.

This year’s gathering starts at 10 a.m. at the Territorial Statehouse State Park. (Just exit I-15 in Fillmore, drive down Main Street and follow the signs to the park.)

From 10 a.m. to noon, visitors can check-in and “relive the past” as they visit with other guests. At noon, a lamb luncheon will be provided by Ashton Meats Catering, which runs a meat store and butchering business in Fillmore.

The traditional “open mic,” where people tell stories, sing songs and recite cowboy poetry about times on the lonely desert, will run from 1-3 p.m.

This year, the afternoon program will include a performance by Noteworthy, a seven-member women’s acapella group, and Vocal Point, a seven-member men’s group, both from BYU.

Also featured on the program will be Joe Frischknecht of Mayfield, a cowboy poet who has performed at several gatherings.
From 5:30-7 p.m., there will be a dinner, followed by a concert, also featuring Noteworthy and Vocal Point, at Millard High School, 200 Eagle Ave.

Sponsors of the gathering include Millard County; the Great Basin National Heritage Area; Fillmore City; Friends of the Territorial Statehouse State Park and Museum; the Utah Division of Natural Resources; and Future Business Leaders of America.

Tickets for the daytime gathering are $30. The evening dinner is $25. Tickets for the evening concert start at $15.

To register in advance, mail your check to the Friends of the Territorial Statehouse, 50 W. Capitol Ave., Fillmore, Utah, 84631. You can also buy tickets online at sheepherdersgathering.com. Or you can pay at the door when you check in Saturday morning.