The annual Westward Ho! Parade during the Pendleton Round-Up started in 1910 and to this day showcases rolling contraptions of wood, metal, canvas and leather right out of classic Western movies.

More than 100 wagons and buggies that date back longer than 100 years make the journey through downtown Pendleton every year in the parade.

Tim O’Hanlon, Pendleton Round-Up parade director, oversees this nonmotorized brigade, and he has been doing so for the last four years.

“The collection and parade has gotten bigger. A lot bigger,” he said.

A fire in 1940 has been the only setback.

“A lot of wagons were lost,” O’Hanlon said. “That fire destroyed quite a collection we had.”

All year long, O’Hanlon arranges Wagon Wednesdays, days for volunteers to inspect, repair and refurbish the wagons.

Wagon Wednesdays, O’Hanlon said, is a great inclusive group with camaraderie that always gets excited about being together and working on the wagons. “We have a great team,” he said.

“There’s always something to be done, and there’s been a lot of deferred maintenance over the years,” he said.

O’Hanlon said the wagons need to be safe for the parade, so safety is the No. 1 priority. He and other volunteers are on the lookout and testing for safety, and if there is an issue, the wagon in question gets fixed.

And getting fixed, doesn’t just mean “new.” It means fixing in a way that preserves the historical integrity and authenticity the old vehicles hold — O’Hanlon’s second priority.

It’s not about the cosmetics of looking updated and fresh, O’Hanlon said. It’s about reflecting the time periods that the wagons come from.

This could mean square bolts, aged lumbar, and limited paint.

It’s the history of wear and tear that gives the wagons so much value and meaning, he said, and the volunteers love that history.

“You are working on something that is 120, 150 years old, and doing something very few people know how to do,” he said. “People love seeing history, and people love seeing history function.”

To that end, the Wagon Shop is stocked with a collection of tools and materials that have been collected and donated through the years, allowing the volunteers to work on the wagons to maintain the tradition of the Westward Ho! Parade because.

O’Hanlon joked about how when most people watch Western movies, they enjoy the action and gunfights. Not him though. He is paying attention to the wagons.

“I want to know what kind of wagon it was,” he said. “I look at the wagons and see how they are set up.”

The wagons and buggies of the Wagon Shop come from all over the country — New York, California, Ohio and Washington state to name a few — and some even come from out of the country. One buggy in particular was shipped from Germany decades ago.

The teamsters that drive the old rides also come from all over. O’Hanlon mentioned teamsters coming from Idaho, Colorado and the Dakotas.

And as these teamsters drive the wagons and buggies, using a fleet of more than 700 horses, for the Westward Ho! Parade, these worldly relics of the past find a home in Pendleton.