CANYON CITY — The Oxbow Trading Post in Canyon City is in the midst of a transition that soon will see it displaying taxidermies of the largest successful hunts in the Northwest.

Jim and Mary Jensen founded Oxbow Wagons & Coaches more than 30 years ago, specializing in buying, selling and restoring a diverse array of horse-drawn vehicles. Late last year, Mary Jensen’s daughter, Sophia Morris, and her husband, David, took over operation of Oxbow Wagons and Coaches and began to put their own personal touch on things.

First was the reboot of Shoshoni Winds Restaurant, now operating as a food cart offering barbecue and burgers. Next up is the creation of a 4,000 square foot Northwest Big Game Museum that will be next to the Shoshoni Winds Food Cart.

The Northwest Big Game Museum will operate as a 510(c)(3) nonprofit.

Labor of Love

David Morris produces the record book that logs the largest successful hunts throughout Oregon and Washington and travels to sportsman shows throughout Oregon and Washington with trophies of some of the largest animals harvested in the region. The Oregon record book is in its seventh edition while the fifth edition of the Washington State record book is upcoming.

The scoring standard for entries into record books is set by the Boone and Crockett Club, who track the largest animals harvested throughout the United States. Because the Boone and Crockett Club track the entire country, Morris said scoring minimums had to be slightly adjusted to reflect Oregon state records.

“Their minimums are very high because it’s a national book,” he said. “What we did is adopt a lower minimum score that would show an entry from Oregon.”

For Morris, the Northwest Big Game Museum is the end result of all the work he’s done over the years in tracking, logging and displaying the most successful hunts in Oregon and Washington.

“This is just a continuation of what I started in 1992,” he said.

Morris’ path to opening the Northwest Big Game Museum Oregon began with him attending a taxidermy school in Arizona in 1984. After seeing a book cataloguing the largest successful hunts while in Arizona,

Morris got the idea to do something similar for hunts in Oregon.

The first Tour of Oregon’s Big Game Animals was in 1997 and featured each of the Oregon state record heads making various stops throughout the state. Morris said the tour was later given an invitation to bring their show into Washington state, sparking a rebranding to the Tour of the Northwest Big Game Animals.

These days, Morris does 13 sportsman shows a year throughout the Northwest. As official Boone and Crockett Club scorers, the Tour of the Northwest Big Game invites hunters to bring heads and antlers of their successful hunts to the shows for measurement, scoring and recording.

More work ahead

Morris said there are a number of animals displayed in the south building of the former Oxbow Trading Post but there still is some remodeling to be done to the north building.

The north building was built in 1911 as the Canyon City Auditorium and Gymnasium and hosted the first Whiskey Gulch Gang celebration in 1922 and has hosted dances, meals and theater productions.

“The building has been in commercial operation since 1911 but it’s in a residential zone,” Morris said.

Ultimately, Morris said he hopes the Northwest Big Game Museum, along with the Shoshoni Winds Food Cart, will draw tourists into Grant County.

“I think this will draw some people who normally wouldn’t make a trip through here,” he said.

Sophia said she and David are unsure of a solid opening date for the museum but will know soon.

“The museum will come faster than Shoshoni Winds if approved,” Sophia said.

The museum’s hours will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission will be free.