If you want to travel back in time to the Old West, gather up your posse and head out to Heritage Day on Saturday at Third and Elgin streets.

The event is hosted by Downtown Muskogee Inc., and funded by a $1,000 grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Council, with sponsorship from Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce, Love Bottling and the Bank of Oklahoma.

Jonita Mullins, DMI executive director, said this is the first Heritage Day, but if it’s successful, she would like to see it become an annual event and perhaps grow to more than one day.

“We are highlighting and trying to educate our visitors about Muskogee’s rich history,” she said. “It lasts from 9:30 a.m. to dusk. It’s set up to simulate territorial days of the 1880s.”

Mullins said two of the attractions will be a Native American group and the Territory Marshals.

“Bacone College has a group that does dancing and storytelling,” she said. “They have drummers and a singer who will do a demonstration of some of the ceremonial music that they do. The Territory Marshals will be doing shoot-outs in the street. They are a group of reenactors who love re-creating the Old West and doing the shoot-outs and different events from around Muskogee.”

Mullins said something new to Muskogee will be the Medicine Show.

“George Hopkins is the man who does ‘Dr. Hedgethicket,’” she said. “He’s a retired firefighter from Oklahoma City, and he’s been doing this medicine show with the wagon, and he does the whole nine yards with the selling of the snake oil and all that. He’s done a lot of work at Western events, cowboy poetry events, the chuckwagon event at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.”

Mullins said the local group Springstreet will be doing a bluegrass concert, and a local couple will present the authentically-prepared chuckwagon supper. Both start at 4 p.m., and seating for both will be in the parking area behind the Hall of Fame.

“Leigh Ann and Scott Matthews do chuckwagon competitions a lot, and they are going to provide that meal,” she said. “They’ll be cooking all day long in anticipation of serving the group around 4 p.m. They will actually have their chuckwagon set up with an open campfire. They cook over the fire in the Dutch oven old-style of cooking. People can go by during the day and look at the camp and ask how they would cook on a cattle drive or something of that nature.

Mullins said a teepee will be set up in the little grassy area where the Centennial Trail starts. Food and craft vendors will also offer their wares with a western and American Indian flavor. Children can fashion a stick horse with the assistance of the Muskogee Art Guild.

If you go

WHAT: Heritage Day.

WHERE: The Depot District in Elgin Street between the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and the Three Rivers Museum and inside the museums as well, Third and Elgin streets.