Sharon Tindall has a covered wagon. Or at least she serves coffee from a decorated coffee hut that closely resembles one.

She opened Crooked River Coffee a little more than a year ago and has almost finished turning the business into a wagon fit for the Oregon Trail.

Why a covered wagon? Tindall, a Crooked River Ranch resident, used to make presentations about historical women to students in Eugene, and she even presented to classrooms with the Department of Defense. She said she feels inspired by each woman she portrayed but named Abigail Scott Duniway as a favorite.

Duniway weathered the Oregon Trail in the mid-1800s and became a newspaper editor and women’s rights advocate in Oregon. Duniway’s journey inspired Tindall to make a covered wagon out of her coffee hut.

“The willingness for these people to leave everything they know to follow a dream is very inspiring to me,” Tindall said. “I guess that is what this symbolizes, is their sacrifice and courage to go across the Oregon Trail.”

The Terrebonne community helped Tindall with her project. A group of neighbors helped her install the canvas covering, which was made in Terrebonne, about a week ago.

Tindall said it took a little warming up to the small business community in Terrebonne for Crooked River Coffee to gain acceptance, but Tindall was successful. She said relations improved after community members were able to see the business she drew.

“It’s been an interesting process to see how it divided the community at first, but how it’s brought the community together after we opened,” Tindall said.

She plans to paint “Terrebonne or bust,” in bold letters on the canvas wagon covering for her final touch.

Her coffee comes from Denver-based Coda Coffee. Tindall said all her other ingredients, except flavoring syrup, is local. She offers a limited menu of food, including some baked goods and breakfast items. Tindall said she emphasizes customer service, which she can provide in a minutelong interaction with a regular or an hour-long conversation with somebody who just needed to talk.

“We would rather take our time with our customers than be impersonal,” said Keisha Walters, who works at Crooked River Coffee with Tindall. Walters said Tindall has had prolonged conversations with customers at her coffee stand window multiple times.

“I love coffee; that is what started this,” Tindall said. “And I love people, and both of those things grew into how can I share my coffee and how can I share my love.”

Tindall has wanted to open a coffee hut for more than 30 years. She hopes her coffee hut represents Terrebonne and the cowboy code of the West the community members embody.

“We want to add to the warmth of the Terrebonne community,” Tindall said. “As a business we want to focus on enriching the community.”

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com