The two exhibits in front of you may have traveled the shortest distance before finding their way here to Heritage Park. Previously located merely one block over, this bell and water trough were original features of Main Street in Old Garrison. Perhaps conventional today, these items would have in fact played important parts in a small town on the Northern Plains prior the arrival of modern inventions.

Before the ubiquity of the automobile, it wasn’t unusual for most everyday travel to involve a horse in some capacity. Similar to how a car needs fuel, horses require water - and lots of it! The average horse drinks anywhere from six to ten gallons of water per day, depending on its size or how hard it’s being worked. Residents or visitors to Garrison could water their horses or other livestock as they saw fit at this town water trough, which was good news for weary travelers - and even better news for the horses!

In much the same fashion as modern modes of transportation replacing the horse, newer methods of communication would also ultimately leave this bell without a job. Before telephones or sirens, the town bell was used to quickly convey a message to residents and visitors alike. Sometimes, like in the case of a fire or an impending storm, the bell may have acted as an alarm, clanging out warning! At other times, it may have called the community together for an assembly or a celebration. The pealing of this bell delivered information to all those within earshot, which before the clamor or modern society would have been miles!

Although these two items might have been more useful to the folks of Garrison in the past, they have found fresh life here at Heritage Park. While they no longer quench the thirst of parched animals or ring out communications, this bell and trough play a new part here in helping us imagine what life was like in Garrison in those days long gone by.