Mountain man names.......

[Matt B]

So we as a family have been attending some rondys for about 10 years or more combined. Yet none of use have mountain man names. What I have seen and been told is....that you have to do something memorable to get one. Usually you have a dumb moment. Then it has to be given at council fire.

True?

Also just wondered how some of you got your. As a family we gave my mom one last year at Bridger. We have a family camp that has grown from three families to seven families. Not all related...anyway. She always packs a ton of stuff, I know because I usually load it.  So last year someone was looking for something and I said see if mom has it. She has "everything" and she had what we were looking for. So I said ok you have a name now. We started calling her "many things".

[RichW]

So we as a family have been attending some rondys for about 10 years or more combined. Yet none of use have mountain man names. What I have seen and been told is....that you have to do something memorable to get one. Usually you have a dumb moment. Then it has to be given at council fire.

True?

Since I have never been to a "council fire" it must be false.  Dumb moment?  OH YEAH!  That one's almost always true

[Two Steps]

Most that I know of just came from "Friends" giving um to ya.

Two Steps got hung on me the first time back in the 80s at a Rondy hosted by the Carlsbad Mountain Men.   I had just put some rawhide soles on a pair of sideseams :shock:
It got stuck fer good over in the Mimbres at a Moon of the Crow Rondy...my knee blew out and again...that's about all the steps I could take
Al

[Pichou]

Pomme de Terre? :lol:  :lol:  

[Firewalker]

I've told this before, but since you asked........
Close to 30 years ago I was at the Bloody Lake Rendevous with Jack, Howdy Howdy, Tallwater, Big John, Duke, Del, Curt and several others. Some of us had these chairs somebody thought of building using two 12 inch boards and sliding one into the other to make a sort of "L" shaped reclining chair. Well I still have mine, they are fine for stting still watching the fire. But get a few beers in you and then try to get up. Thats a whole new situation. I kind of fell forward into the fire on my knees and then managed to straighten up and walk across the fire, which was not very big and this all happend very quickly. My buckskin knees now black and my moccasins very warm. It was around 30 degrees out that night.  I then turned to everyone and said" I bet you can't do that." And proceeded to the outhouse. Tallwater gave me the nickname.
Firewalker

[oomcurt]

I would think that the name is given by those that one runs with, be it just a bunch of friends or in my case by the club I belong to once I passed my probationary period. And yes, it usually is a name that describes some dumb moment one had or some unusual feature of the person being named. In my case...Horse Tooth...reason: I live in what is called the Front Range...foothills really. There is this large rock that sticks above all others and is visible for several miles. Well, there is this riddle: "What do you get when you have a room full of skinners?" Answer: "A full set of teeth." See, at the time...I only had 4 teeth and the lower left sort of looked like that rock I was telling about. Of course, things are different now...I only have two teeth left. Am I going to get dentures? Nope...don't need 'em. I can eat anything I want...nuts, steak, etc. All except lettuce or bacon that wraps itself around one's finger when held. To tell the truth, way back when I was a little kid my mother's uncle didn't have any teeth and he was in his high eighties or low nineties. He could eat anything and I figured if he could so could I.  

[Fletcher]

I was sure we had a good thread on this about a year ago, but I could not find it.  Maybe someone is smart enough to do a 'search' and point back to it.

It seems that most of the 'mountain man' names I know about come form events and are given by 'friends', commonly at a 'Council Fire'.  Some folk also take on 'personna' and use a historical or fictitious name to fit the character and time.  This seems very common with the reinactment enthusiasts.

I believe that all to be a good thing.  All that promotes the spirit and history of the pioneer days, especially as it pertains to muzzleloaders, is the best way to preserve history.  In the three trips I have been able to take my family to D.C., we spent 3 to 4 months on 'detail' and they got to see all 50 states in a sort of living history that we worked out ourselves.

I believe my sons are better off in the long run for it with a knowledge and respect for this country that few seem to get isolated in their school systems or the daily news.

I got my name at our first Boy Scout Rondy where we all worked together to pick a 'name' a 'totem' and a personna for each boy and adult.  Then we worked on making clothing, camping gear, and a throwing knife for each boy.  We prepared for three months for this 4 day weekend.  It was probably the most rewading Rondy I have ever been to because it showed me how much young people can get invloved and learn.  So many of them had no clue about the mountain men before that time, yet every one of them has told me more than once they often think of it and still refer to themselves by their mountain man name in the company of others from that group.  Kind of touching.

I was known as an Archery Counselor before that event and I made up several sets of 'primitive arrows' for it.  I also borrowed 4 3-D targets from my gun club for our little event course and the boys loved it.

One of the boys said I should be known as 'The Arrow Maker' and one of the adults said that skill would be called a 'fletcher' - so that worked.  "Fletcher the Arrow Maker"

Of course that is kind of long and at every Rondy since, all those I have met have come to know me as "Fletch"

It has long been known that a true mountain man does not like to waste syllables  :lol:

[Minnesota Mike]

Nicknames can come from anywhere and tend to stick. Agree that it is usually your "freinds" that give them to you. And it is usually for doing something memorable and stupid.

On the other hand sometimes a nickname can follow you from one group to another. My Dad's handle is "Stoneface" and has been for many years. Goes back to when a college buddy and I had gone to folks place for dinner. After several gut-busting jokes and such circled that table, Chris asked Dad "Mr. H that was funny, why aren't you laughing?" Completely straightfaced he replied "I am" This was the first time Chris had met my Dad, so the event was rather memorable. After that we all started calling him Stoneface.

While on my first ship in the Navy as a young division officer, I had to learn everyone's name twice in the gunnery department - Their real name and nickname. Seems like the ship's gunner only knew them by their nicknames and I had to know who he meant when talking about Short Charge, Budda, Pops, Fang, Runt, etc.

Considering how some people get nicknames, maybe one should be happy to just be called Matt or Rich - means you ain't done anything THAT stupid . . . yet.

r/
MM

[Matt B]

It's not that I haven't done stupid things, it's just the family wasn't there at the moment.  :shock:  

I thought like Fletcher there had been a thread on this, but who knows. It's been talking about it again.

[Loyalist Dave]

Lots of folks call me "one thumb", which is short for a very long Indian name that translates into "one thumb bleeds often".  I used to regularly catch my thumb on a flint or something else sharp.  It wasn't a question of "if" I would cut my thumb, only "when" I would cut one or the other thumb.

LD

[Bigsmoke]

I too went for years and years without being caught doing anything stupid or making mistakes in front of anyone else.  Guess I should have been called Lucky.
Anyway, one day a group of us were sitting around looking at a video of me test firing a 4 bore rifle with a 400 grain charge.  One fellow said something like we ought to call you Lots of Smoke.  After a bit of discussion it changed into Bigsmoke and that its been ever since.
Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it, more or less.

[Captchee]

Most certainly many names come from things that folks have  done . Some in our group consist of . Hooter naper , feeds little , rolling water , teaspoon, mudbug and such .
 However others  have not and are names given by friends . These consist of names like  
Falsears : he wears hearing aids  
Daisy Toe thumb :  Many years ago he lost a thumb in an farm accident and they replaced it with one of his big toes
 Bear sign.  DJ  big dog is named bear .
Sharp knife Bear signs son  . Is a  you fella who is starting to get into flint knapping and blade making .

Some folks name changes often .
 Mine however has been the same   for a long, long time
 While im know as captchee  to most my mountain name is Charlie two feathers  .
 For one reason my mark has always been two crossed feathers.
 But one year at a shoot  a small bird landed  in front of a target just as I fired . When the smoke cleared two small feathers cam floating down on the wind.
 Hence Charlie two feathers

[Pichou]

I'm kind of wondering what Captchee means?

Matt B,  MN Mike, are you guys related?  You look like twins

[Minnesota Mike]

Not that I know of - picked that image cuz it is darned close to the real thing . . . Wow - I need to diet . . .

r/
MM

[Fletcher]

-Captchee-

I heard that is a Tsalagi name for a man of fierce countenance but tender of heart.  It is fitting for a strong warrior but kind and gentle friend, husband and father.

It is my story and I'm stickin' to it unless Captchee tells y'all different!!!