Carren Voshell with the help of Jean Olson worked on her tent in Tipi Village at the Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival Tuesday, the second day of the event. Visitors to Tipi Village get a look at the life American Indians and trapppers led in the 1800s. [Click to enlarge]

Visitors can travel back in time to the 1800s through Tipi Village this week at the Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival.

Construction of Tipi Village started Tuesday in Pioneer Village at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds as village people began erecting canvas tents and tepees.

Carren Voshell, of Elkhart, has come to the Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival for at least 10 years.

A walk through the Tipi Village area in the fairgrounds' Pioneer Village may find an outdoor cooking area, a guitar resting on a stand, and man's best friend standing watch as musicians perform and visitors listen to old-time country music. The festival continues through Sunday. [Click to enlarge]

Outside her canvas tent, much like the ones early American trappers lived in, Voshell placed wood in a metal pot. In minutes she had a fire burning on which to cook her lunch.

Trappers gathered with fur companies once a year to sell their furs, Voshell said.

"They would trade or barter for the supplies," she said.

Next door, Jim Lee hurried in and out of his tepee. Parts of the outside were painted red and blue and murals of animals like bears circled the inside walls.

He stopped to talk about items he carves from wood similar to the ones his predecessors made.

It takes three to four days to whittle a walking stick from Diamond Willow wood and then another hour to sand it, said Lee, of Nebraska.

Jenny Blackadder, New Zealand's "Banjo Queen" traveled to Le Mars for the 33rd Annual National Old Time Country and Bluegrass Festival. She sparked the audience in Century Hall Tuesday evening with her flying fingers and friendly banter. [Click to enlarge]

"You can't measure the time it takes to make one because it's fun to do," Lee said. "You get one done and you grab up another one."

He also makes wooden spoons from Peach, Mulberry and Apple wood, all of which are non-toxic so they can be used in cooking, Lee said.

Sometimes his creations don't look like anything but a stick to the untrained eye, but to Lee they are a work of art.

The Kooi Kids from Inwood sang favorite old-time hymns, including "Children of the Heavenly Father" and "Power in the Blood" for the crowd at one of the outdoor stages Tuesday evening as part of The National Old Time Country and Bluegrass Festival. [Click to enlarge]

"That piece of wood had a hole in it and I thought it needed a flower in it," Lee said pointing to a vertical hole in one of his wood masterpieces.

Voshell and Lee said there will be demonstrations like cooking over an open flame, Lee's whittling and tours inside tepees and tents throughout the music festival to teach visitors a little something about the 1800s.

Once all the villagers arrived, there would be 15 camps in Tipi Village, Voshell said.

Seeing the trappers' tents and the American Indians' tepees together wasn't always a common sight in the 1800s, Voshell said.

"Sometimes American Indians competed for the same food and territory," she said. "On the other hand, sometimes they (trappers) lived with them and learned from them."

For those "living" in Tipi Village this week it's not all about tepees, hand-made items and trappers, there is also a popcorn stand and musical entertainment.

Ron Trump, of Perry, Iowa, Wednesday used a large, black, cast iron kettle to make his popcorn, which he said is a tradition that continues today.

"I'll put my corn up against any microwave kind," Trump said proudly.

Although he isn't one of the stage performers, villager Jean Olson will play his banjo and bass violin.

Tipi Village is all about having fun and learning, villagers say.

"It's just to share the knowledge that dies so quickly," Olson said.