Saturday’s rain didn’t keep visitors away from the 12th annual Barnyard Days event at the Circle R Ranch.

The three-day event, which started on Friday, will conclude today at 4 p.m.

“As of 1 p.m. (Saturday), we had more than 8,000 people come through the gate,” said Steve Roark, co-organizer of Barnyard Days. “It was a great turnout, the best Saturday that we have had in several years,”

The arts and crafts festival, also comprised of music, food, commercial vendors and live history exhibits, normally sees between 18,000 to 20,000 people during the three-day weekend.

One of the newest events was a portable sawmill.

“It is a band saw type,” David Boyt said. “It has several advantages. One is it is easy to take to a job site, so rather than bringing the logs to me, I can take the mill out to where the logs are. It is strictly a one-person operation.”

The portable sawmill came about in the 1880s.

“It produces less sawdust, which means that much more board for one to use,” Boyt said.

As he was sawing a 1,500-pound log, onlookers watched the operation.

“I rolled the log down (a small hill next to the sawmill at Barnyard Days) onto a hydraulic lift and it puts it on the mill,” said Boyt. “This tree came down in Steve Roark’s yard during the tornado. He said that growing up, he would play in the tree and that he wanted a table or other furniture made out of it.”

Once the saw was still, one could hear the sounds of a black powder gun being fired nearby. Mountain men rendezvous groups were displaying their trade of how people lived on during the fur trading days.

“We set up an 1840s-style mountain man camp, everything in it should be primitive, 1840 or older,” said Don Henderson, with the group. “We do our cooking with cast iron.”

During the time period of 1820 to 1840, fur trapping was the way mountain men made their living.

“They trapped for the beavers —  beavers was a real commodity for them,” Don said. “They shipped a lot of beavers overseas to make hats and stuff. They made their own clothes out of the deer skin, elk skins. They were pretty self-sufficient in the mountains. They would come down once a year with all of their furs that they trapped, trade for whatever they needed for the rest of the year, like powder, lead balls, blankets, traps.”

Don said the mountain men were located in areas such as the Rocky Mountains and later moved to the southwest.

“But by then, the mountain men era was pretty much gone by the time it went to the southwest,” Don said. “For us, it is a fun hobby.”

As he was showing the camp area, the smell of beef stew filled the air.

“I started the beef stew on Friday, cooked my meat for about two or three hours,” said Gloria Henderson. “It has potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes. We also make yeast hot rolls. I bake in a cast iron Dutch oven. I can pretty well bake anything you can bake at home here.”

Want to go?

• Admission for adults is $4 (with a $1 off coupon from area McDonald’s Restaurants, which will be available 10 days before the event). Children under the age of 16 and parking are free.

• Today, the event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Breakfast is served daily at 8:30 a.m.

• Driving directions: From Neosho, go five miles on U.S. 71 to Iris Road, turn right 3.2 miles to Circle R Ranch. From Joplin go 10 miles south on U.S. 71 to Iris Rd. turn left 3.2 miles to Circle R Ranch.

• For more information, contact Steve and Tammy Roark at 451-3399 or visit the Web site at: www.circle-r-festivals.com.