High Chaparral is a

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

theme park and post-industrial museum of cultural artifacts and collectibles, located close to

Värnamo Värnamo (), historically known as Wernamo, is a town in Jönköping County in the south of Sweden. It is situated on the river Lagan just north of the lake Vidöstern. It is the seat of Värnamo Municipality and has 19,778 inhabitants as of ...

, Sweden. It opened in 1966 and was founded by Bengt Erlandsson, more commonly known as "Big Bengt". The park is located near Hillerstorp in Gnosjö Municipality and is close to E4 motorway and Swedish national road 27.

Big Bengt, the founder

Bengt Erlandsson was born in 1922 in Brännehylte, Småland, Sweden. His parents owned a forest farm and a saw mill. His interest in the American frontier and

was born from coming from a countryside where many had emigrated to America and from the stories they told. Erlandsson went to the United States himself in 1956 at age 34 and in four months touring covered . He came back to Sweden with a lot of impressions. When the Swedish national phone company had to get rid of 200,000 telephone poles, Erlandsson took the opportunity and constructed a western American style frontier fort and town with log cabins as it might have been used by the old

United States Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one ...

and U.S. Army in the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

on the western frontier in North America during the 19th century. When many people started to get curious about the place, he realized its commercial/tourist and historical purposes and possibilities. Similar to

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's construction of various

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

s and

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

s with "Frontierlands" portions built into the entertainment parks in several foreign countries decades later. Bengt Erlandsson died in March 2016.

Park

The park was opened in 1966. The theme park stages several stunt shows a day. It also has a steam train that runs through the park. There is both the classic Wild West section, an Indian themed area, a Mexican themed area, and a museum overflowing with cultural artifacts, old cars, machinery, and various Cold War oddities such as the bronze monster-size statue of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

expelled from

Nowa Huta Nowa Huta (, literally "The New Steel Mill") is the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland. With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous areas of the city. Until 1990, the neighbouring districts were considered expansions o ...

References

External links

{{Commons category * http://www.highchaparral.se - Official Website Amusement parks in Sweden Western (genre) theme parks 1966 establishments in Sweden Buildings and structures in Jönköping County Tourist attractions in Jönköping County Amusement parks opened in 1966

Big Bengt, the founder

Park

See also

References

External links