The Mountain Man Rendezvous - Party in the Wilderness

By: Peggy L Henderson

Mountain men and fur trappers blazed trails in the American West long before the wagon trains and settlers crossed the continent. Lewis and Clark traded furs and good with the Native Americans during their explorations in 1804-1805, and more and more adventurers braved the wild mountains west of the Missouri to find their fortune in animal furs.

The mountain man's life was dictated by the seasons and the climate. Most trapping occurred in fall and spring, when animal pelts were at their finest. When the season started, and how long it would go, was ruled by the weather. Spring furs were most desirable because the pelts were still thick from winter.  When the quality of the pelts declined, the season was over.

In order to trade in their furs and buy needed supplies for the fall trapping season, the mountain men had to make the long journey back to civilization, or to various remote trading posts. The typical fur trapper would haul his pelts all the way back to St. Louis, Missouri. There they would be traded for supplies for the coming trapping season

In 1822, two men from Missouri – businessmen, not trappers – advertised for “enterprising young men to ascend the river Missouri…” to trap for beaver. William Ashley and Andrew Henry formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and employed trappers to work for them.

In order to supply their men and keep them in the mountains year-round, they brought teamster-driven supply trains to the trappers starting in the summer of 1825. After rendezvous, the fur-loaded pack trains headed back to Missouri. 

Having a few hundred men in the mountains who did nothing but kill beaver assured Ashley and Henry a steady supply of furs to sell. At the same time the trappers, because they didn’t have to make the long trip in from the mountains, were willing to pay high prices for the supplies the company delivered. So Ashley and Henry made money on both ends of the deal.

Each year, the location of the meeting places, or rendezvous, was different.

What started as a practical gathering to exchange pelts for supplies and reorganize the company’s trappers into units who strategized where to trap, evolved into a month long carnival in the middle of the wilderness.

The rendezvous brought not only the trappers who worked for the fur companies, but also free trappers, women and children, Indians, French Canadians, and travelers. Besides the trading, there was a lot of socializing to do. Traders, trappers, and their Indian customers, friends, and families, ate, drank, gambled, staged horse and foot races, quarreled, fought, and made love.

Mountain man James Beckworth described the festivities as a scene of "mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent."

An easterner gave his view: "mountain companies are all assembled on this season and make as crazy a set of men I ever saw." There were horse races, running races, target shooting and gambling. Whiskey drinking accompanied all of them.

Rendezvous was over when the trappers had spent their year’s earnings on high-priced whiskey, clothing, and supplies needed to last another year in the mountains.

1840 was the last year that Rendezvous was held. Beaver had declined in number, and felt hats replaced beaver hats in popularity. The trappers found other ways to make a living — hunting buffalo for example — or guiding wagon trains.

Short excerpt from Yellowstone Homecoming

Laughter, loud voices, and gunshots reached them long before dozens of tents, lean-to’s and tipis came into view. Hundreds of trappers, Indians, and even several wagons with traders of all sorts of goods milled about the large open area. Matthew kept a look-out for his comrades. Men he hadn’t seen in years called out a greeting, others stared at him and Addy with interest.

“Stay close,” he said when he caught the look of astonishment on Addy’s face as they passed men who wrestled each other to the ground, knives drawn.

“Isn’t anyone going to stop them from killing each other?” she whispered.

“Most everyone here is drunk. I doubt anyone’s going to die. This is what goes on at these gatherings. Men drink, carouse, and trade their furs. No one would think to break up one of these fights.”

“Barbarians,” Addy hissed. She shot him a disapproving frown when he chuckled at her comment.

“Osborne! Matthew Osborne.”

Matthew’s head turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Jim Bridger rushed around a group of men inspecting a cache of furs. Matthew dismounted his horse, and held out his hand in greeting. The trapper shook it. He cocked his head to the side and looked at him suspiciously.

“It’s Matthew, ain’t it?” he asked, uncertainty in his voice.

Matthew laughed. “Yeah, Bridger, it’s Matthew.”

“I’ll be,” the woodsman said with a loud laugh, and slapped his hand against his thigh. “We thought you was dead.”

“No, just took me a little longer to get here.” He turned to look at Addy, who still sat on her horse.  “I brought Miss Witmer back. Where are my brother and her father?”

Bridger’s eyes widened in surprise. “Zach done told us ya was kilt by them Pawnee. He rode through here about a week ago. Said he was headin’ home to break the news to yer folks.” He glanced toward Addy. “Had us a skirmish with them bloodthirsty Injuns ourselves. Couple of the missionaries got kilt, and a few got hurt, but the rest of us kept our scalps.”

Addy gasped at Jim Bridger’s words.

“Not your father,” Bridger said quickly. He pointed toward the west of the large encampment. “He’s camped yonder with his wagons, past them tipis.”

Matthew mounted his horse. “Thanks for getting them here safe.” He nodded to Bridger.

“Come back and visit with Fitzpatrick an’ me fer a spell when you’re done with Witmer,” Bridger called.

“I will, but I’ll be heading out soon. I need to get home and let my folks know that I’m not dead.”

Bridger laughed. “Good idea. Ain’t every day a man comes back from gettin’ kilt.”

Peggy L Henderson

Western Historical and Time Travel Romance

“Where Adventure Awaits and Love is Timeless”

Award-Winning Author of:

Yellowstone Romance Series

Teton Romance Trilogy

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Blemished Brides Western Historical Romance Series

               

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Minnesota in the Good Old Days

I’ve been paging through a book I picked up several years ago at a used book store. Titled Bring Warm Clothes, Letters and Photos from Minnesota’s Past, it was written by Peg Meier, a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. The book caught my eye because it chronicles life in the state where I grew up.

Serious topics covered include the Dakota War of 1862 (also called the Sioux Uprising) in which more than 500 people died, and Minnesota’s role in the Civil War. But I’m not going to blog about them today. Instead, I’ll share snippets from diaries, letters and newspapers. Some words are misspelled or oddly capped. I hope a few excerpts make you laugh.

European exploration of the Minnesota area began in the last half of the 17th century and increased in the 18th century. Fur trapping and the search for a Northwest Passage were of prime interest. After the French-and-Indian War in the 1760s, the region came under English control.

English explorer Jonathan Carver, after whom a county in Minnesota is named, observed on June 4, 1767:

“Came to the great medows or plains. I found excellent good land and very pleasant country. . . This country is covered with grass which affords excellent pasturage for the buffeloe which here are very plenty.”

Scotsman John Macdonell wrote on Sept. 11, 1793:

“Supped upon a Bear killed by the hunters and while at supper a Snake came into the Tent and was not perceived till it got half its length across Mr. Neil Makay’s plate”

In 1803 Minnesota became U.S. territory under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase. Voyageurs and fur traders continued to ply their trade.

James E. Colhoun, a member of a U.S. expedition, wrote on July 18, 1823:

“Fortunately the nights are sufficiently cool to permit our sleeping with our boots on and our heads covered with the blanket. It is hardly an exaggeration of the traders that in the summer season on the St. Peter’s (the Minnesota River) the one whose office it is to strike fire will find it impossible to perform his duties unless protected from the mus-quitoes by some of his company. I find it necessary to keep a soldier constantly employed to brush away these troublesome insects while I am making Observations.”

Indeed, no exaggeration! I have a magnet purchased in Albert Lea, MN with a mean looking mosquito on it and this inscription: SEND MORE TOURISTS . . . THE LAST ONES WERE DELICIOUS!

Fort Snelling, originally Fort Saint Anthony, was built in the early 1820s on a bluff at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. I visited the old fort on a field trip while in elementary school, goggling at the panoramic paintings of pioneer days in the Round Tower. I’ll save the fort’s colorful history for another day.

Dr. Nathan S. Jarvis, an Army surgeon at Fort Snelling, wrote to his sister on Oct. 10, 1833:

“What think you of the thermometer being as low as 30 degrees below zero? Such is the case every winter in this climate. We keep a regular diary of the weather . . . Last winter the thermometer for every day during the month was nearly 10 degrees below zero. 2000 cords of wood are generally consumed during the winter at the post.”

Mrs. Ann North, lately come to St. Anthony village with her husband, wrote about their new two-room log cabin to her parents on Nov. 25, 1849:

“Everything as quiet as we choose to have it, for the river separates us from all other inhabitants. The carpenter did not leave here until last night. We came here, on Thursday, put down the carpet in one room,and unpacked some things. As the windows were not all in, we could not sleep here.” [She talks of many things yet to be done.] “But even with all the inconveniences, it is more pleasant than boarding anywhere.” She grew to love Minnesota!

Announcement in the Minnesota Weekly Democrat, June 28, 1854:

“Mr. Gottleib Seigal, a respectable German who has resided for some time in this city, was attacked with cholera yesterday and died during the night. We hear of no new cases in the city today. The German who was sick yesterday in the 3rd Ward, and for whose use a coffin had been prepared, is now convalescent, and has returned the coffin with many thanks to the board of health.”

Announcement in the St. Paul Daily Press, Feb.21,1864:

“Madam Rose Lovejoy and Madam E.M. Robinson were arraigned yesterday on charges of keeping bawdy houses. Each of them was accompanied by four boarders. The proprietors were fined $20 each, and the other(s) $5 each. We understand it is the intention of the authorities to repeat this dose once a month.”

  On that droll note, I highly recommend Ms. Meier’s book and wish you good reading.

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