Traditional Muzzleloading Association
The Center of Camp => People of the Times => Topic started by: Uncle Russ on July 02, 2017, 03:34:10 AM
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The Rendezvous of yesteryear has captured my own heart, mind, and soul for more years than I care to admit.
There were several Rendezvous, none like the year before, and the one coming up is truly going to shine as there will never be another like it, Astor himself has promised that...and while prices increased exponentially for the traders goods sold, the price paid for the plews fall like a rock from a very high elevation, year after year.
One must wonder what madness was driving these men to suffer so much for so little in return.
There were some good years for the Free Trappers, and a few years that were even better than others for the Company man, but only a precious few left the Mountains with little more than the clothes on their back, a horse or mule and a few good traps, a Green River or two, and their trusted Rifle.
The Rendezvous Schedule;
Mountain Man Rendezvous', 1825-1840 Camps and Dates...
• 1825 Henry’s Fork of the Green River, Wyoming
• 1826 Cache Valley (near present Hyrum), Utah
• 1827 Bear Lake, Utah
• 1828 Bear Lake, Utah
• 1829 Upper Popo Agie, near Lander, Wyoming
• 1830 Wind River headwaters near Riverton, Wyoming....(this is my favorite, the Sioux, the Blackfeet, the terrible weather, and the rugged mountains faced by the Mountain Men.)
• 1831 Cache Valley (near present Hyrum), Utah
• 1832 Pierre’s Hole, Idaho
• 1833 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
• 1834 Ham’s Fork, Wyoming
• 1835 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
• 1836 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
• 1837 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
• 1838 Wind River at the mouth of Popo Agie, Wyoming
• 1839 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
• 1840 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming.
I suspect we all have a "favorite" year and location of those great get togethers for the purpose of Trading, replenishing old stocks, and re-outfitting for the upcoming season, along with all the great and wonderful stories that took place since the last gathering at the last Rendezvous.
All that, and much more took place at every Rendezvous, every year, just like clock-work.
Some were old hands and actually did a little business before getting all liquored up, and bedded down with some squaw, while that end of the business require frufraw, lots of frufraw to be bought from the Traders who had carried these beads and linens over the most dangerous trail on earth..... or, the old Trapper slept off his drunk all by himself on the cold ground.
The younger less experienced nearly always jumped in head first, blew all their money from his plews, on wine, women, and song, and ended up with nothing more than that of a Company Man owing the Company another's years wages....He had to sign on to pay the debt he had occurred from a little too much fun with the Indian girls, and the Rondy Traders being much older and wiser had "weaseled" him out of a whole years plews, for very little in return.
Anyway, the year is 1830, and the place is the Wind River headwaters near Riverton, Wyoming.
I don't know how many of you have a Kindel, but there's some great reading of these very stories at a really reasonable price by downloading them on your PC or Laptop from Amazon.com.
- Wind River by; L.J.Washburn & James Reasoner
- Give your Heart to the Hawks by; Wm Blevins
- Christopher Carson (Kit Carson) by John C. About
** Kit Carson spent considerable time in the Wind River area.
- John Colter; Explorer, Mountain Man, and Trapper by; Charles Griffin Coultant
The reason I mention all this is because you can download these wonderful, out of print books for as little as $0.99 up to $5 or $6 bucks.
Pick the time / year of the Fur Trade era that floats your stick, and you can very likely find some really good reading for your Kindel. Or the person that you have admired over the years, betcha going find some good reading on 'em.
It seems somehow a misnomer that Buckskinners, like ourselves, are using Computers, Tablets, Smart Phones, and even Kindel to search out those subjects that entertain us most, but that's what we do...we get the information wherever we can find it.
If you are to emulate an individual in life, I find it wise to know all you can about that person, otherwise we are going to discredit that person somehow, in some way, and that's hardly fair play.
IMHO, it's the information that truly shines, not how we came about it.....wouldn't ya say?
Jus'sayin
Uncle Russ...
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IMHO, it's the information that truly shines, not how we came about it.....wouldn't ya say?
Yup! :hairy :toast
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Good post, Uncle Russ. :bl th up
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Agreed, good post. :hairy
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I forgot to add that 1837 is my favorite year. It was the year Alfred Jacob Miller attended the Rondy which lead to his paintings.
Also, it was basically the beginning of the end for the annual fur trade Rendezvous. Sure, there would be three more gatherings after that - but it singled out the end of an era that was approaching fast.
In a way I kinda experience that same type of feeling that I expect many of the trappers must of had after the 1840 Rendezvous, once I break camp at our modern doings. It would be a while before you'd see your friends again (if you ever would again) once the Rendezvous ended...
As said many a times; "those were shining times" :*:
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Just got on Amazon and ordered "Give your Heart to the Hawks" in paperback (used) for $5.99. Incidentally, the author is Win (Windfred) Blevins, not William. Not that it made any difference in my Amazon search. They had it new for around $10.
Good post, good time table. I worked on the Bridger-Teton N.F. in 1982 & 3, out of Pinedale. Wish I'd known more about the Rendezvous back then. I didn't even get to the museum; shame on me! But I did visit the site of one of the early rondys as it was close to the road to Big Piney. :laffing
~WH~
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I'm kind of partial to 1832, which ended with the battle of Pierre's Hole. :bl th up
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You're right Winter Hawk! :bl th up
I had mistaken Win for Wm.
Hope you enjoy that book, I now wish I had it in paper back.
You're going to enjoy "hiding inside a beaver dam in ice cold water, looking through the branches of the tightly packed mud pack, as the mighty Sioux dance madly on the banks of the icy stream, screaming threats of death, while describing in ugly detail the many things they are going to do to you and your Mother"...
The Kindel is a great tool, but it just ain't an old paper back book with "ear tab pages", folded pages, underline sentences, and sometimes highlighted in red, green or, yellow, of your own doings...
Us old Buckskinners can all be thankful for the unlimited amount of information that's available, and the ease of obtaining that information.
I can recall back in the 1960's there was only one, maybe two people in the whole dadburn town that you could go to for honest information, although there were other self proclaimed SME' s (Subject Matter Experts) many of those SME's of that time were the very ones responsible for most of the "Old Wives Tales" regarding Black Powder and Muzzleloaders in general.....thankfully after years of 'preachin' we have finally cleared the air on many of those old tales.
There's nothing more informative than reading.
Reading at your own pace, re-reading when you feel it's necessary to clarify a certain point, then being able to go back, months to years later and refresh your mind by re-reading what you've likely read three, maybe even four times before.
I can also recall having to go to the Library to check out "The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle" by Ned Roberts, because the availability of Copies were just not to be had...my present day copy says it was copy written in MCMXL, MCMXLIV, MCLMII (or, 1940, 1944, and 1952)
One would think a 30 or 40 year old book wouldn't be hard to find, but back then it was darn near impossible.
However that book, along with a couple more certainly helped to debunk truck loads of the Old Wives Tales that were so prevalent back then...thank God for that!
Uncle Russ...
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I can also recall having to go to the Library to check out "The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle" by Ned Roberts, because the availability of Copies were just not to be had...my present day copy says it was copy written in MCMXL, MCMXLIV, MCLMII (or, 1940, 1944, and 1952)
I found that book in the Ketchikan Library around 1994. I was just looking through the shelves and saw this BIG tome on M/L rifles and it about floored me. I checked it out and it almost got "lost" so I could pay for it and not return it. :laffing I figured that St. Peter might frown on that when I stand at the pearly gates, but it sure was a temptation!
Amazon has it in reprint form; I see they also have "The Supplement To The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle" by Ned Roberts, which may be another purchase to make (after I get the first book). I may be exceeding the book budget at this rate! :lol sign
~WH~
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Very good words Russ. I'mm going to Amazon right now.
Thanks for the info Winter Hawk :bl th up