Cedar City’s Main Street becomes a river of wool

In 1870, sheep ranchers in Cedar City first took their grazing animals off the neighboring mountain and herded them through town into the valley for winter. On Saturday, the tradition was kept alive as more than 1,000 of the wooly beasts paraded down Main Street to the delight of several hundred spectators lining the curbs. The parade was part of the Cedar Livestock and Heritage Festival, held to celebrate the livestock heritage of Cedar City and Iron County. The trail down Main Street is one of the few recognized livestock trails in the country that bisects a city for one day. Chad Reid, chairman of the festival committee, said the event is in its fifth year and was fashioned after a similar parade held every year in Ketchum, Idaho. An official with the Ketchum Parade encouraged Cedar City to preserve the tradition. “She said, ‘You have a story to tell,’ ” said Reid, who helped get the city to herd the sheep down Main Street as ranchers did 140 years ago...more