August 2005

Mountain Island Rendezvous

Some years ago, my husband-to-be asked me to accompany him for an afternoon rendezvous, and I anxiously agreed. I thought a rendezvous was a romantic interlude in a little French café. But as we drove on a hot summer day to a large field on Washington’s Whidbey Island, I suddenly found myself in the middle of the nineteenth century. Was I in a time warp?

No, I was about to witness a mountain man rendezvous—a reenactment of a meeting day for trappers and buyers during the fur trade era.

During the height of the fur trade from 1820 to 1840, mountain men in the Pacific Northwest trapped beavers to supply beaver hats to Europe’s fashion industry. Trappers sold their pelts to buyers at a yearly rendezvous, and then buyers would haul the furs via mule train, wagon and canoe to the cities.

Fur companies reaped most of the profits from the fur trade. They provided the initial capital that the trappers needed, leaving trappers obligated to the companies and at the mercy of the fluctuating market for furs. Even in a good season, the typical trapper never got out of debt.

The mountain men were both courageous and reckless. Each claimed to have the fastest horse and the wildest stories, to have killed the biggest bear, to be the best marksman, to be loved by all the Indian maidens, and to be able to drink the most whiskey.

All of this bragging resulted in raucous storytelling, intense competition and lots of drinking at the yearly rendezvous. But after the first day of drinking, gambling and competition, it was time for serious trading. The mountain men traded their pelts for traps, guns, ammunition, knives, tobacco, liquor and food for the next year.

The fur companies made a concerted effort to trap out the beaver population. They might have been successful had not silk top hats come into fashion, ending the demand for beaver pelts and putting a stop to the wild adventures of the mountain men.

Since my first rendezvous, my husband and I have gone to many of these reenactments. Local gun clubs usually sponsor them. This year, we attended the annual Memorial Day Rendezvous at the Paul Bunyan Gun Club in Puyallup, Washington.

As people arrived, the time warp began. Tepees and tents were erected, and it started to look like a little village. There were venders selling wares of the day, a blacksmith, wood workers, and people selling beads and blankets. You could find all the supplies and ammunition you needed for your black powder gun.

At a rendezvous, all of the tents and tepees must accurately reflect the era. If you have a cooler, or anything of the modern day, it must be camouflaged or hidden. Proper dress is required. Most men wear clothes made of skins or cotton. Women wear Indian dresses or calico. Muzzle-loading firearms are the only guns allowed.

There is a designated area for RVs, which are referred to as tin tepees. My tin tepee is a 34-foot Airstream trailer.

The weekend starts with registration. Shooters are given their targets and assigned a number. Then, the games begin! The weekend is filled with shooting and throwing contests. One of the most popular contests is called the “Buck and Doe.” Originally, men and women competed as teams in building tents, starting fires, throwing knives and undertaking other activities appropriate for the day. What it has evolved to is men, and men dressed as women, competing as teams. Watching these hairy, old mountain men in long dresses and bonnets is the best comedy performance you will ever see.

Everyone who competes at a modern day rendezvous is a winner. On the last day everyone gathers for an awards ceremony. In the order of the final scores, everyone gets to pick a prize. There are lots of funny stories shared, and awards are given for the funniest mistakes.

A weekend rendezvous is a lot of fun, and a great history lesson for the “young-uns”. For more information about black powder shooting, and schedules of upcoming rendezvous in the Washington area, see www.wamuzzleloaders.org. To learn about mountain men and the fur trade era, read The American Fur Trade of the Far West Volumes 1 & 2, by Hiram M. Chittenden.

Karen Meredith is a member of the RV Life staff.