Mountain Man Rendezvous-Yesterday and Today
James Beckwourth, a well known mountain man, described the summer gatherings in this way: "It may well be supposed that the arrival of such a vast amount of luxuries from the East did not pass off without a general celebration. Mirth, song, dancing, shooting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sort of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent were freely indulged in. The unpacking of the medicine water contributed not a little to the heightening of our festivities."
Though they only covered a short historical time span, the romance of the rendezvous lingers on. Today you can find modern versions of the rendezvous all over Idaho and the west. At these current gatherings people still get together to trade and socialize. Many are dressed in the outfits of the past, and there are also numerous competitions to test participant's skills with muzzleloaders, knives, and tomahawks.
According to Gordon Perry, president of the club, there are many attractions to these rendezvous: "I enjoy the connection with history. I like history and this gives you an opportunity, a great opportunity, to see what it was like for a short period of time. It's a great time for people to get together and let their hair down a little bit. Part of the fun of being in a club like this, besides shooting old firearms, is all the accruements that go with 'em — you got your buckskins and you got your teepees and your trapping goods and it's a family-type situation. It's a lot of fun." Another local group that has a long running rendezvous is the Idaho Free Trappers. They've held an event near Cascade in central Idaho for more than twenty years. Other Idaho groups with well-established events include the Hog Heaven Muzzleloaders of Troy, the Lolo Trail Muzzleloaders, the Hells Canyon Muzzleloaders, and the High Country Muzzleloaders of Grangeville. |
In the early 19th century the annual rendezvous was the big event for the west's mountain men. Once a year trappers, traders, and Native Americans would gather to exchange goods and socialize. In fact, rendezvous is a French word that literally means "appointed place of meeting."
Though colorful, the era of the mountain man spanned only 15 years, from 1825 to 1840. Most of the rendezvous held during those years took place in what is now western Wyoming, not far from Idaho. One rendezvous actually was held in present-day Idaho near what is now the town of Driggs. That 1832 rendezvous, at a location called Pierre's Hole, was one of the largest ever held in the Rocky Mountains. It's estimated there were four hundred mountain men, hundreds of Native Americans, and thousands of horses. Among the tribes present were the Nez Perce, the Flatheads, and the Shoshone. Actually, all the rendezvous were held in the territory of the Shoshone, a tribe also called the Snake Indians by trappers.
There are a number of rendezvous held in Idaho each year. Near McCammon in the eastern part of the state, not far from several of the original rendezvous sites, the Portneuf Muzzleloaders stage an annual gathering. It's an event that has been taking place in various locations for more than thirty years.