Buck Conner1
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Boy Scouts (BSA) and Girl Scouts (GSA) gathered as one group. (page 3)
Jim Beckwourth described the rendezvous as follows:
“On arriving at the rendezvous, we found the main body of the Salt Lake party already there with the whole of their effects. The general would open none of his goods, except tobacco, until all had arrived, as he wished to make an equal distribution; for goods were then very scarce in the mountains, and hard to obtain. When all had come in, he opened his goods, and there was a general jubilee among all at the rendezvous. We constituted quite a little town, numbering at least eight hundred souls, of whom one-half were women and children. There were some among us who had not seen any groceries, such as coffee, sugar, &c., for several months. The whisky went off as freely as water, even at the exorbitant price he sold it for. All kinds of sports were indulged in with a heartiness that would astonish more civilized societies. Some of the more colorful events at the rendezvous had Jim Bridger as the central character of merry making: in 1835 Dr. Marcus Whiteman removed a three inch point from his back that had been lodged in his shoulder for three years while scores of spectators watched in awe; in 1837 William Drummond Stewart presented Bridger with an English full suit of steel armor which created quite an amusement with Bridger clanking around camp with it on”.
WOMEN AT THE 1838 RENDEZVOUS
One recorded episode in 1838 at the Popo Agie rendezvous by two missionary wives is very illustrative of eastern opinions of wilderness lifestyles.
Mary Walker wrote:
“Last night disturbed by drunkards. A large company arrived under command of Capt. Bridger. A no. of them came to salute us. One man carried the scalp of a Black-foot [sic]. The music consisted of tamborines [sic] accompanied by an inarticulate sound of the voice. They . . . fired and acted as strangely as they could.”
Myra Eells was shocked even more:
“Last night twelve white men came, dressed and painted in Indian style, and gave us a dance. No pen can describe the horrible scene they presented. Could not imagine that white men, brought up in a civilized land, can appear to so much imitate the Devil.”
Between the time the rendezvous ended and trapping season began the mountain men remained free to search out new beaver country. Encouraged to wander by the fur companies the trappers became great pathfinders for the future influx of white pioneers. During this time period the mountain men produced a fresh burst of land exploration. Historians are still trying to figure out exactly where all of them wandered. It is certain that by the 1830s, American trappers had explored the mountains of the West from the eastern slopes of the Rockies to the Sierra passes into California, and from the Columbia River in Oregon to the Mojave Desert of Nevada. They were the first white men to look upon such wonders as the badlands of the Great Basin, the chasm at Yosemite, the redwoods of California, and the beauty of Yellowstone Park.
Alfred Jacob Miller, a young artist from New Orleans, received the opportunity of witnessing the 13th rendezvous in the Green River Valley. His eyewitness account and sketches are considered the most thorough and detailed description of this annual festival in its sixteen year tradition:
At certain specified times. . . the American Fur Company appoint a ‘Rendezvous’ . . . for . . . trading with Indians and Trappers, and here they congregate from all quarters. The first day is devoted to ‘High Jinks,’ in which feasting, drinking, and gambling form prominent parts. Sometimes an Indian becomes so excited with ‘Fire Water’ that he commences ‘running a muck’ - he is pursued . . . and secured . . . ‘Affairs of honor’ . . . are adjusted between rival Trappers - one . . . of course, receiving a complete drubbing; -all caused evidently from mixing too much Alcohol with their water. Night closes this scene of revelry and confusion. The following days exhibit the strongest contrast. . . . The Company’s great tent is raised; - the Indians erect their picturesque white lodges; - The accumulated furs . . . are brought forth, and the Company’s tent is a besieged and busy place. Now the women come in for their share of ornaments and finery.
The 13th rendezvous was held in June, 1837 with more than 2,000 participants, trappers, Indians and fur company agents all in attendance. Although the price for pelts was lower than expected and the cost of supplies was, as usual, overpriced, the 13th rendezvous lived up to its yearly tradition of wild activity. Though this year, as the mountain man returned to the wilderness, marked the last of the great rendezvous. Only three more would be held and they failed to meet the expectations of all who participated. The falling price of the beaver had made the trip to the mountains from Missouri not worth the expense of travel. Fewer than 120 white men attended the rendezvous of 1840. When the American Fur company, sponsor of the gatherings since 1836, announced that there would be no more rendezvous after 1840, most of the mountain men who had been working the Rockies soon drifted away. Many went to California, New Mexico, or Oregon. A few went home to Canada, Missouri, Kentucky, or Virginia. Only a minority remained in Wyoming.
Tobert Newell, in a statement to Joe Meek, perhaps best summarizes the feelings of the old mountain man towards the future of the fur trade:
Come,” said Newell to Meek, “We are done with this life in the mountains - done with wading in beaver dams, and freezing or starving alternately - done with Indian trading and Indian fighting. The fur trade is dead in the Rocky Mountains, and it is no place for us now, if ever it was. We are young yet, and have life before us. We cannot waste it here; we cannot or will not return to the States. Let us go down to the Wallamet and take farms. . What do you say, Meek? Shall we turn American settlers?”
Thus died an American lifestyle and an era in Western history. The mountain man was compelled to change his livelihood by forces beyond his control.
STORIES OF SURVIVAL
“The Story of Hugh Glass”
One of Ashley’s and Henry’s men, Hugh Glass set out for the Yellowstone River with the Henry party. One day the old man went out to hunt some meat and stumbled upon a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Before he could even reach his gun or turn to flee, the grizzly had seized him by the throat, inflicting several severe and life-threatening wounds. Finally, the main hunting party came upon the scene and killed the grizzly with several shots as she stood over her victim. Hugh Glass was not expected to live considering the seriousness of his wounds and the mangled condition of his body. Glass defied the odds and survived that night and the next. There were no surgical aids to help repair his wounds and he was unable to move or to be moved. The delay of the trapping party, however, could jeopardize the entire group and everyone was beginning to worry, though they were determined not to leave Hugh Glass alone. Major Henry offered a pleasing solution. By way of reward, two men would remain with Glass until he passed away. These two men, after watching Glass suffer for five days, judged that he could not live much longer. Beginning to fear for their own safety, the two men decided to catch up to the main party and explain that Glass had died. As a dead man would have no need for a gun or supplies, the two gathered up all the supplies, leaving Glass defenseless in the process. This done, the pair set out in search of their employer. But Hugh Glass was not dead. A few months later, he appeared at Henry’s Fort on the Yellowstone, thirsty for revenge. Only the younger member of the pair, Jim Bridger, was at the fort and, due to his age and inexperience, his life was spared. It was the other man who Glass wanted. Told that this man was now stationed at Fort Atkinson down the Missouri, Glass joined four other men who were headed in that direction. Glass barely escaped the Indians who attacked the party, killing the four other men.
Finally, nearly a year since the grizzly attack, Glass reached the garrison. But after Colonel Leavenworth pointed out the many disadvantages to killing a soldier of the United States Army, Glass conceded to forget his plot of revenge.
“Escape from the Blackfoot”
In the fall of 1808, John Colter and his partner named Potts came upon a large group of Blackfoot Indians while floating a stream near Three Forks. The Indians ordered the men to shore. Potts, refusing to come in, shot an Indian from the boat and was immediately riddled with arrows. The chief ordered Colter to be stripped of his clothes and to run for his life while being pursued by a band of Indian braves. Colter ran with desperate speed and dashed for a river some six miles in the distance. Even though at one point an Indian overtook him, Colter was able to wield the spear from his grip and kill the Indian with his own weapon. Colter finally reached the Madison River where he remained hidden under a raft of floating driftwood for several hours. The Indians could be heard yelling as they searched the area for him, a few even standing upon the raft which sheltered him. After dark, the Indians abandoned their search and Colter swam downstream and then traveled some two hundred miles to Fort Manuel.
MARRIAGE A LA FACON DU PAYS
The story of the mountain men is incomplete without examining the Indian women who made their lives and livelihoods possible. Most depictions of fur trade life, whether in print or in paintings and sketches, make little mention if any of the Indian women so integral to its functioning. This omission is significant because full- and mixed-blood Indian women played prominent roles in the fur trade. They were wives and hence workers, companions and cultural liaisons. It could be said that the mountain man could not have succeeded in his peculiar livelihood without the assistance of Indian women and their tribes.
In contrast to the popular image of the lone mountain man, some scholars assert that the taking of Indian wives was a “common practice” among the mountain men. When mountain men took Indian wives, no minister nor priest officiated at the ceremony. Instead, marriages were performed according to the customs of the tribe into which the mountain man was marrying. A French phrase was used to describe this union, “marriage a la facon du pays.” The translation means “after the fashion of the country,” or “after the custom of the country.”
Alternate names for the marriage between a mountain man and an Indian woman included “mountain marriage,” “prairie marriage,” and “Indian marriage.” One trapper referred to his Indian spouse as his “outdoor wife.”
The Indian wives performed much of the labor necessary for the mountain men to survive and thrive in the mountains. They processed the scores of animal pelts, particularly beaver, and made them ready for market. They provided and prepared food, constructed snowshoes, made clothing, and set up, maintained and moved camp. The wives also became mothers of “mixed blood”children.
Many Euro-Americans held misconceptions about the Indian wives of the mountain men. Although Indian women played a significant and productive role in the fur trade economy, they were often thought to be lazy opportunists, scheming to live a life of leisure and ease through marriage to a white man. Another misconception occurred as a result of white men observing the custom of an Indian woman’s father or brothers accepting horses and other objects in exchange for her hand in marriage. The whites mistakenly concluded that the Indian women were purchased by their husbands, and that the unions were highly degrading to the women and highly immoral. Such observers were witnessing only one of a series of customary exchanges between the bride’s and groom’s families, however.
A “SQUAW MAN”
Why would any mountain man want to be a “squaw man,” the term sometimes given to those white men who married Indian women? To the mountain man, an Indian wife proved to be a valuable helpmate. She had been trained since childhood for the rugged outdoor life led by her people and later, briefly, by the mountain men. The basic division of labor in Indian societies dictated her tasks and prepared her for a life of hard work. One of her most important duties was processing the large quantity of peltry trapped and shot by her husband. Because it would be months before the furs would be transformed into hats and other goods in some European factory, it was mandatory for the pelts to be cleaned and cured first. Indian women cleaned the pelts by using several small specialized tools.
The list of additional chores performed by Indian wives for their mountain men husbands is long. It was Indian wives who made the camp, packed and moved it, and set it up again. They cooked the bounty of fresh meat, and searched for plants to add variety to the meat diet. They made and stored foods such as jerky and pemmican for consumption during lean winter months. They fashioned clothing from animal skins and took great pride in the quality of their handiwork. Indian wives even cleaned their husband’s guns. Often, fur trappers’ Indian wives and children accompanied them into the wilderness and worked alongside the men. The business of trapping and hunting animals for their pelts thus became a family affair.
Indian women also played important roles in soothing tribal rivalries, preventing tribal wars, and in diplomacy in general. Like a number of traders, many trappers realized that marriage to a chief’s daughter might well be good for business, in addition to basic survival. Mountain man Jim Bridger, for example, married Cora, the daughter of a Flathead chief. In short, marriage helped cement trade ties. The marriage of a fur trader and an Indian woman was not just a private affair between the couple. Instead, the mountain man married into an Indian society and immediately inherited a large kinship network. The bond thus created helped to advance trade relations with a new tribe, and placed the Indian wife in the role of cultural liaison between her husband and her kin. The mountain man’s Indian wife became a bridge between two cultures.
Aside from their obvious merits as skilled workers and diplomats, Indian women were preferred by mountain men simply because there were no other women in the region at the time. Even if white women had been present, it is unlikely that they would have been pursued as wives. They simply did not have the necessary survival skills. George Frederick Ruxton, an English soldier, traveler and writer, spent a winter in the Rocky Mountains with trappers during the fur trade era. He explained the mountain man’s opinion of American (white) women, “American women are valued at a low figure in the mountains. They are too fine and “fofarraw.” Neither can they make moccasins or dress skins. Nor are they schooled to perfect obedience to their lords and masters...”
“Foofaraw” comes from the French word, fanfaron, which means “a boaster of vices or virtues he or she does not possess; a braggart.” As an adjective, the word describes something fancy or affected. “Foofaraw” in the language of the mountain man also refers to a variety of small trade articles and feminine fineries. Examples include tin cones, seashells, trade silver, brass tacks, rings, cooking utensils, clay pipes, hats, pieces of military clothing, hawk bells, ribbons, calico, wools and other trade cloth, and vermillion (a bright red pigment). “Foofaraw” is also a synonym for fanciments, trimmings, decorations for personal adornment.
PRESTIGE AND WEALTH THROUGH MARRIAGE
Why would an Indian maiden want to become the bride of a white mountain man? During the fur trade era, a young Indian woman gained prestige and respect from her people by marrying a white trapper. Some scholars say that many Indian parents, as well as the maidens of a tribe, believed that a white man often made a superior husband. According to some, white men helped their Indian wives more with heavy work, chopping and hauling wood, for example, than Indian husbands of the day would have done.
In addition to status, the mountain man’s Indian wife gained wealth. The mountain man was usually rich by Indian standards, and he spent his gold disks (the Indians called them “buttons without holes”) to purchase many wonderful items for his wife. Some items were for her vanity (trade beads, earrings, metal-backed mirrors), while others made her daily tasks easier (brass kettles, scissors, needles, thread). In her de facto role as cultural liaison, the Indian wife often promoted cultural changes, especially in the use of the white man’s textiles, tools and utensils, and in new arts and crafts techniques.
Mountain men were famous for showing off their Indian wives. At rendezvous and ceremonial times, the mountain man outfitted his wife and her horse to out splendor all other women. Trapper Joe Meek took great pride in the appearance of his Indian wife, Mountain Lamb, for example. He mounted her on a three-hundred-dollar dapple gray horse, and clothed her in a “skirt of beautiful blue broadcloth, and a bodice and leggins of scarlet cloth, of the very finest make.” Mountain Lamb wore “a scarlet silk handkerchief tied on hood fashion...and the finest embroidered moccasins on her feet.”
Not only did the Indian woman who married a trapper benefit from the union, but also all the members of her family were the fortunate beneficiaries of highly coveted European goods and trading privileges. When a mountain man married an Indian woman, he immediately inherited more aunts, uncles and cousins than he ever imagined. Scores of the wife’s relatives came to visit and be presented with many gifts from the rich white man. Sometimes a mountain man and his wife moved far away to avoid her relatives. The kinship marriage conferred usually outweighed the nuisances presented by relatives anxious for foofaraw, however, and many trappers made their homes in the Indian camps.
Sometimes a mountain man took more than one Indian wife. In native societies, a man was considered blessed and most fortunate if he possessed many wives and fathered many children. Mountain man Jim Beckwourth had at least eight Crow wives in separate lodges. An overworked wife was pleased to have a new, younger wife to help with the myriad chores that faced her every day. There was no shame in becoming the new wife of a man who already had one or more. It was considered improper for a man to take extra wives if he could not afford to, however.
“MIXED BLOODS”
Dorion, an interpreter of mixed parentage that lived with the Sioux for some twenty years in the early part of the nineteenth century, said, “The white man scatters his seed like the cottonwood, blown on every careless wind.” Indeed, many of the marriages between mountain men and Indian women produced children. This phenomenon is called miscegenation, an interbreeding of races, especially whites and others.
The upbringing of the children sometimes provided an arena in which the Euro-American and Indian societies clashed. In the fur trade society, while it was acknowledged that Indian women were remarkably devoted and affectionate mothers, Euro-American fathers exercised patriarchal authority. The story of Manuel Lisa, Spaniard and principle in the Missouri Fur Company, provides an example. Lisa decided that the daughter from his marriage to Mitain, an Omaha woman, should have a formal education in St. Louis. He sent the little girl away to the city in the East. Mitain was devastated, and slashed her skin, tore her clothing, and put ashes in her hair, the prescribed rituals of her people for mourning the dead. A few years later, he attempted to send their young son away in the same manner.
The intense grief displayed by Mitain aroused the anger of her people, the Omahas, who believed, like the majority of Indian peoples, that children were virtually the “property” of their mothers by matrilinear right. Only after Omaha chiefs and even government men protested did Lisa yield and let the boy remain with his mother.
ROMANCE AND REALISM
Living today in an industrialized society, we find it difficult to imagine wilderness life as it was in frontier America during the early nineteenth century. Indeed, it is hard to recapture now the experiences of that eventful period in the past or even to picture the land and its people more than a hundred years ago. Therefore, we must turn to the surviving accounts of those who first explored the western wilds. Perhaps none recall those bygone days more vividly than the pictorial reports of the nineteenth-century artists like Alfred Jacob Miller who, in the company of fur trappers and traders, crossed the trackless prairie and the distant Rocky Mountains. In his and other artists’ works the image of the “romance of the Mountain Man”. For some people living in the twentieth century the life of the mountain man is viewed as one of simplicity, getting back to nature, getting away from the restrictions of urban life. For many the mountain man and his life are synonymous with independence and self-reliance, daring and courage, and a “don’t-tread-on-me” attitude.
Some historians have argued plausibly that the American fur trade was never very important economically and moreover was never primarily a Rocky Mountain phenomenon. It has been written that too much recognition has been given to the ‘incredible richness’ of the Rocky Mountain beaver trapping.
Dale L. Morgan stated that: “Maybe the American West was rich only in poor man’s terms.” Morgan’s comment could describe Wyoming’s fur trade history. Lasting only sixteen years the mountain man era existed in Wyoming’s semiarid environment that limited the beaver’s habitat by the scarcity of water, aspen trees, willow trees, and brush.
In comparison with the national and international fur trade the amount of business conducted did not add very much to the gross national product, even though it was the only major economic activity of the region. At its peak the fur trade’s work force of mountain men and traders did not exceed five hundred men. No more than 3,000 men were involved in all fur trade activities west of the Missouri from 1810 to 1845, and most of them earned barely a living wage. Company trappers’ wages were $400.00 a year, with free trappers’ wages less, depending on their luck and initiative. But paintings, motion pictures, books, and even public textbooks have exaggerated the importance of the mountain man. What has been overstated, with romance and color, are the ideas of freedom, independence, and self-reliance of the trapper’s life. Many men stayed in the fur trade only a year or two. The work was often laborious and otherwise disagreeable—lugging six or eight five-pound traps, wading into ice-cold water, setting traps at just the right place so the captured animal would drown before it could chew off its foot, skinning the victims in freezing temperature, or carrying the heavy wet animals back to camp. Tension must have been prevalent—constant fear of Indians, and concern about the safety and welfare of the horses, their only means of transportation. The stress of finding productive beaver ponds year after year to ensure his continued livelihood added to the demands placed upon the mountain man.
DESCRIPTIONS OF TRUNK ITEMS
· BEAVER PELT: The primary fur-bearing animal trapped during the era of the mountain man. It was traded with fur companies for essential materials needed to survive a winter in the mountains.
· BELT: This belt, made of heavy tanned leather with a hand-forged buckle, was worn outside of the shirt and held a knife, tobacco bag, and other personal items. It was wider than the inner belt which was used to hold up trousers, when one was used at all.
· BULLET MOLD: These came in various sizes, depending on the size or type of the bullet that was needed. (Included are two different sizes of bullets.) The size of the bullet determines the “caliber” of the weapon. Hot liquid lead was poured into the mold and cooled to form the round ball.
· CASTOR BOTTLE: Taking a peeled willow wand, the trapper would dip into his castor bottle, which contained castoreum produced from beaver glands. He would spread this yellowish substance near his trap, generally on a limb poised above it. The castoreum produced a scent that attracted beavers from miles away to the location of the trap.
· CLAY TRADE PIPES (2): The practice of smoking tobacco was common among most of the fur trappers and Indians. Clay pipes were light and could be packed anywhere. They were cheap to make and were used for trade between whites and Indians.
· CLOTH CAPS (2): Caps were worn by mountain men chiefly during the winter months for warmth. The styles were so numerous that rarely two were alike. The stocking cap was highly popular with the French-Canadian voyagers. Most were personally decorated with furs, feathers and quilled or beaded designs. Scottish bonnets were worn by trappers from Scotland and decorated with trade silver pieces.
· CLOTH SHIRT: Cloth shirts were worn in the summer when the heat made buckskin clothing uncomfortable. These shirts could be worn under buckskin in the winter for additional warmth. They could be made of cotton, wool, linsey-woolsy, calico, muslin, linen, or pillow ticking and were commonly used as a trade item.
· DECK OF PLAYING CARDS: Many mountain men passed the long winters, and the Rendezvous, gambling with playing cards. Take note of the colored face cards, which include four U.S. Presidents.
· FLINTLOCK PISTOL: The preferred firearm of the mountain men during the fur trade era was the flintlock. “Flintlock” refers to the ignition system used to fire the weapon. A piece of flint fit into the hammer and, when fired, struck the sted freyzen to cause a spark. This spark ignited the black powder in the pan and burned into the barrel to fire the weapon.
· FLINTSTONE: The flintstone and striker were used to start fires much the same way that we use matches. The flint would be struck on the steel to produce a spark. The spark could be “captured” on charcloth and placed into tinder in order to start a flame. (The flint could also be used in a flintlock ignition system to fire a rifle or pistol. See also Steel Striker.)
· GLASS TRADE BEADS (3): There were numerous styles of glass beads that were used as trade items with the various Native American tribes; a few have been included as examples.
· GREEN RIVER KNIFE: This was the trapper’s favorite type of knife. The knives were practical, light, abundant and relatively inexpensive. Because of hard use, the knives frequently wore out but were easy to replace. They were named “Green River” after John Russell’s forge on the Green River in Massachusetts.
· HAWK BELLS (6): These were traded to the Indians for the purpose of decorating clothing.
· HORN COMB: The cow horn comb included in the Trunk has “teeth” of two sizes. The larger teeth were used to straighten the hair while the smaller teeth were used to comb out lice.
· WOOL HAT: Hats, styled such as this, were what made the beaver so popular. Although the hat included in the trunk is made of wool, the shape was common to the period and viewed as fashionable in Europe and America.
· KNIFE SHEATH: Case for the blade of a knife made of buckskin or rawhide.
· LEAD BALLS (6): Round bullets of the type used before modern ammunition. (Bullets are .67 caliber.)
· LEAD BAR: Bars similar to this were brought to the mountains and served as the raw material for bullets. The lead would be heated until it was in liquid form and then poured into a bullet mold. As it cooled, the lead would become solid and formed into the desired size for bullets.
· LEATHER BAG: A handy drawstring pouch such as this was ideal for carrying the mountain man’s flint and steel, musket balls or dice.
· MOCCASINS: These were worn by virtually all the mountain men. They were comfortable, durable and more suited to their mountain lifestyles than store-bought shoes. They also enabled the trapper to move about quietly.
· PERCUSSION LOCK PIECE: A type of ignition system for firearms of the period. A brass cap is placed on the nipple and when struck by the hammer, a spark is sent into the breach to fire the weapon. The percussion/cap system was more efficient than the flintlock system and by 1850 the majority of firearms being made were of this type.
· POSSIBLES BAG: This bag served as the carrying pouch for items the mountain man might “possibly” have needed, such as tools for the firearms, tinder to start fires, bullets and personal gear.
· POWDER HORN: A hollowed out horn from a cow or buffalo was used to store the black powder needed to fire a pistol or rifle.
· STEEL BEAVER TRAP: Traps varied in size, style, and method of setting, but the most commonly used beaver traps were double spring and weighed about four to five pounds each. A mountain man would carry six or seven traps in his leather trapsack.
· STEEL POINTS (3): An item used for trading with the Native American tribes. Indians substituted the more efficient steel point over the stone point for their arrows. This allowed them to use the time that would have been used to make arrowheads for other activities.
· STEEL STRIKER: The striker was used to start fires much the same way that we use matches. The flint would be struck on the steel to produce a spark. The spark could be “captured” on charcloth and placed into tinder in order to start a flame.
· TINDER: Tinder was used to start a fire. Charcloth was also used which consisted of cotton squares that had been charcoaled with fire so that they will readily hold a spark. A magnifying glass could be used instead of the flint and striker to produce a spark on the tinder or charcloth.
· TINDER BOX: This style of box is similar to that issued to the trappers by the Hudson’s Bay Company during the fur trade era. Tinder along with the flint and striker could be carried in the box and used to start fires. A magnifying glass could be used instead of the flint and striker to produce a spark on the charcloth. The charcloth consists of cotton squares that have been charcoaled with fire so that they will readily hold a spark.
· TOBACCO CANTEEN: Made from rawhide sewn together when wet, pounded full of sand and allowed to dry. Popular for storing tobacco, but can be used to store beads, percussion caps, small caliber lead bullets, and other items.
· TOMAHAWK: This was an item that figured prominently in both the trade and personal life of the mountain man. Tomahawks and trade axes of numerous styles circulated widely throughout the fur trade region. Sometimes designs such as weeping hearts were cut into the blades of the “hawks.” Brass tacks nearly always adorned the handle and beaded pendants were frequently seen on Indian-owned tomahawks.
· TRADE CLOTH (2): Since Native Americans did not produce cloth, this item was one of several that was transported to the mountains and used by the mountain men to trade for furs or other items they might have needed.
· TRADE MIRROR: Another item used for trading with the various Native American tribes.
· TRADE SILVER PIECES (2): During the later years of the fur trade era, the mountain men traded silver to the Plains Indians in exchange for furs. The Indians used the silver as ornaments on their clothing and in their hair.
· TROUSERS: These 1820s men’s trousers are made of cotton canvas with pewter buttons to which suspenders were attached. Cloth pants like these were brought form back East. As they disintegrated due to the wear and tear of the rigorous outdoor life, many men patched the trousers with deerskin or lined them with animal skin to extend their useful life. Ultimately the cotton trousers fell apart and they were replaced by clothing fashioned from animal skins, as the mountain man left behind Anglo culture and embraced Native American culture in order to survive in the mountains.
· TWIST TOBACCO: A form of tobacco used by mountain men. Tobacco was either chewed or smoked or put against a tooth to alleviate a toothache.
· WOODEN DICE: Many mountain men passed the long winters, and the Rendezvous, gambling with dice.
· WOODEN WATER CANTEEN: Pinewood construction with nailed wooden hoops, lined with brewers pitch. Common among many fur trappers.
(cont from page 2)
Trappers would return to the mountains to start trapping in the fall, probably having squandered any profits they may have reaped from last year’s trappings.Jim Beckwourth described the rendezvous as follows:
“On arriving at the rendezvous, we found the main body of the Salt Lake party already there with the whole of their effects. The general would open none of his goods, except tobacco, until all had arrived, as he wished to make an equal distribution; for goods were then very scarce in the mountains, and hard to obtain. When all had come in, he opened his goods, and there was a general jubilee among all at the rendezvous. We constituted quite a little town, numbering at least eight hundred souls, of whom one-half were women and children. There were some among us who had not seen any groceries, such as coffee, sugar, &c., for several months. The whisky went off as freely as water, even at the exorbitant price he sold it for. All kinds of sports were indulged in with a heartiness that would astonish more civilized societies. Some of the more colorful events at the rendezvous had Jim Bridger as the central character of merry making: in 1835 Dr. Marcus Whiteman removed a three inch point from his back that had been lodged in his shoulder for three years while scores of spectators watched in awe; in 1837 William Drummond Stewart presented Bridger with an English full suit of steel armor which created quite an amusement with Bridger clanking around camp with it on”.
WOMEN AT THE 1838 RENDEZVOUS
One recorded episode in 1838 at the Popo Agie rendezvous by two missionary wives is very illustrative of eastern opinions of wilderness lifestyles.
Mary Walker wrote:
“Last night disturbed by drunkards. A large company arrived under command of Capt. Bridger. A no. of them came to salute us. One man carried the scalp of a Black-foot [sic]. The music consisted of tamborines [sic] accompanied by an inarticulate sound of the voice. They . . . fired and acted as strangely as they could.”
Myra Eells was shocked even more:
“Last night twelve white men came, dressed and painted in Indian style, and gave us a dance. No pen can describe the horrible scene they presented. Could not imagine that white men, brought up in a civilized land, can appear to so much imitate the Devil.”
Between the time the rendezvous ended and trapping season began the mountain men remained free to search out new beaver country. Encouraged to wander by the fur companies the trappers became great pathfinders for the future influx of white pioneers. During this time period the mountain men produced a fresh burst of land exploration. Historians are still trying to figure out exactly where all of them wandered. It is certain that by the 1830s, American trappers had explored the mountains of the West from the eastern slopes of the Rockies to the Sierra passes into California, and from the Columbia River in Oregon to the Mojave Desert of Nevada. They were the first white men to look upon such wonders as the badlands of the Great Basin, the chasm at Yosemite, the redwoods of California, and the beauty of Yellowstone Park.
Alfred Jacob Miller, a young artist from New Orleans, received the opportunity of witnessing the 13th rendezvous in the Green River Valley. His eyewitness account and sketches are considered the most thorough and detailed description of this annual festival in its sixteen year tradition:
At certain specified times. . . the American Fur Company appoint a ‘Rendezvous’ . . . for . . . trading with Indians and Trappers, and here they congregate from all quarters. The first day is devoted to ‘High Jinks,’ in which feasting, drinking, and gambling form prominent parts. Sometimes an Indian becomes so excited with ‘Fire Water’ that he commences ‘running a muck’ - he is pursued . . . and secured . . . ‘Affairs of honor’ . . . are adjusted between rival Trappers - one . . . of course, receiving a complete drubbing; -all caused evidently from mixing too much Alcohol with their water. Night closes this scene of revelry and confusion. The following days exhibit the strongest contrast. . . . The Company’s great tent is raised; - the Indians erect their picturesque white lodges; - The accumulated furs . . . are brought forth, and the Company’s tent is a besieged and busy place. Now the women come in for their share of ornaments and finery.
The 13th rendezvous was held in June, 1837 with more than 2,000 participants, trappers, Indians and fur company agents all in attendance. Although the price for pelts was lower than expected and the cost of supplies was, as usual, overpriced, the 13th rendezvous lived up to its yearly tradition of wild activity. Though this year, as the mountain man returned to the wilderness, marked the last of the great rendezvous. Only three more would be held and they failed to meet the expectations of all who participated. The falling price of the beaver had made the trip to the mountains from Missouri not worth the expense of travel. Fewer than 120 white men attended the rendezvous of 1840. When the American Fur company, sponsor of the gatherings since 1836, announced that there would be no more rendezvous after 1840, most of the mountain men who had been working the Rockies soon drifted away. Many went to California, New Mexico, or Oregon. A few went home to Canada, Missouri, Kentucky, or Virginia. Only a minority remained in Wyoming.
Tobert Newell, in a statement to Joe Meek, perhaps best summarizes the feelings of the old mountain man towards the future of the fur trade:
Come,” said Newell to Meek, “We are done with this life in the mountains - done with wading in beaver dams, and freezing or starving alternately - done with Indian trading and Indian fighting. The fur trade is dead in the Rocky Mountains, and it is no place for us now, if ever it was. We are young yet, and have life before us. We cannot waste it here; we cannot or will not return to the States. Let us go down to the Wallamet and take farms. . What do you say, Meek? Shall we turn American settlers?”
Thus died an American lifestyle and an era in Western history. The mountain man was compelled to change his livelihood by forces beyond his control.
STORIES OF SURVIVAL
“The Story of Hugh Glass”
One of Ashley’s and Henry’s men, Hugh Glass set out for the Yellowstone River with the Henry party. One day the old man went out to hunt some meat and stumbled upon a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Before he could even reach his gun or turn to flee, the grizzly had seized him by the throat, inflicting several severe and life-threatening wounds. Finally, the main hunting party came upon the scene and killed the grizzly with several shots as she stood over her victim. Hugh Glass was not expected to live considering the seriousness of his wounds and the mangled condition of his body. Glass defied the odds and survived that night and the next. There were no surgical aids to help repair his wounds and he was unable to move or to be moved. The delay of the trapping party, however, could jeopardize the entire group and everyone was beginning to worry, though they were determined not to leave Hugh Glass alone. Major Henry offered a pleasing solution. By way of reward, two men would remain with Glass until he passed away. These two men, after watching Glass suffer for five days, judged that he could not live much longer. Beginning to fear for their own safety, the two men decided to catch up to the main party and explain that Glass had died. As a dead man would have no need for a gun or supplies, the two gathered up all the supplies, leaving Glass defenseless in the process. This done, the pair set out in search of their employer. But Hugh Glass was not dead. A few months later, he appeared at Henry’s Fort on the Yellowstone, thirsty for revenge. Only the younger member of the pair, Jim Bridger, was at the fort and, due to his age and inexperience, his life was spared. It was the other man who Glass wanted. Told that this man was now stationed at Fort Atkinson down the Missouri, Glass joined four other men who were headed in that direction. Glass barely escaped the Indians who attacked the party, killing the four other men.
Finally, nearly a year since the grizzly attack, Glass reached the garrison. But after Colonel Leavenworth pointed out the many disadvantages to killing a soldier of the United States Army, Glass conceded to forget his plot of revenge.
“Escape from the Blackfoot”
In the fall of 1808, John Colter and his partner named Potts came upon a large group of Blackfoot Indians while floating a stream near Three Forks. The Indians ordered the men to shore. Potts, refusing to come in, shot an Indian from the boat and was immediately riddled with arrows. The chief ordered Colter to be stripped of his clothes and to run for his life while being pursued by a band of Indian braves. Colter ran with desperate speed and dashed for a river some six miles in the distance. Even though at one point an Indian overtook him, Colter was able to wield the spear from his grip and kill the Indian with his own weapon. Colter finally reached the Madison River where he remained hidden under a raft of floating driftwood for several hours. The Indians could be heard yelling as they searched the area for him, a few even standing upon the raft which sheltered him. After dark, the Indians abandoned their search and Colter swam downstream and then traveled some two hundred miles to Fort Manuel.
MARRIAGE A LA FACON DU PAYS
The story of the mountain men is incomplete without examining the Indian women who made their lives and livelihoods possible. Most depictions of fur trade life, whether in print or in paintings and sketches, make little mention if any of the Indian women so integral to its functioning. This omission is significant because full- and mixed-blood Indian women played prominent roles in the fur trade. They were wives and hence workers, companions and cultural liaisons. It could be said that the mountain man could not have succeeded in his peculiar livelihood without the assistance of Indian women and their tribes.
In contrast to the popular image of the lone mountain man, some scholars assert that the taking of Indian wives was a “common practice” among the mountain men. When mountain men took Indian wives, no minister nor priest officiated at the ceremony. Instead, marriages were performed according to the customs of the tribe into which the mountain man was marrying. A French phrase was used to describe this union, “marriage a la facon du pays.” The translation means “after the fashion of the country,” or “after the custom of the country.”
Alternate names for the marriage between a mountain man and an Indian woman included “mountain marriage,” “prairie marriage,” and “Indian marriage.” One trapper referred to his Indian spouse as his “outdoor wife.”
The Indian wives performed much of the labor necessary for the mountain men to survive and thrive in the mountains. They processed the scores of animal pelts, particularly beaver, and made them ready for market. They provided and prepared food, constructed snowshoes, made clothing, and set up, maintained and moved camp. The wives also became mothers of “mixed blood”children.
Many Euro-Americans held misconceptions about the Indian wives of the mountain men. Although Indian women played a significant and productive role in the fur trade economy, they were often thought to be lazy opportunists, scheming to live a life of leisure and ease through marriage to a white man. Another misconception occurred as a result of white men observing the custom of an Indian woman’s father or brothers accepting horses and other objects in exchange for her hand in marriage. The whites mistakenly concluded that the Indian women were purchased by their husbands, and that the unions were highly degrading to the women and highly immoral. Such observers were witnessing only one of a series of customary exchanges between the bride’s and groom’s families, however.
A “SQUAW MAN”
Why would any mountain man want to be a “squaw man,” the term sometimes given to those white men who married Indian women? To the mountain man, an Indian wife proved to be a valuable helpmate. She had been trained since childhood for the rugged outdoor life led by her people and later, briefly, by the mountain men. The basic division of labor in Indian societies dictated her tasks and prepared her for a life of hard work. One of her most important duties was processing the large quantity of peltry trapped and shot by her husband. Because it would be months before the furs would be transformed into hats and other goods in some European factory, it was mandatory for the pelts to be cleaned and cured first. Indian women cleaned the pelts by using several small specialized tools.
The list of additional chores performed by Indian wives for their mountain men husbands is long. It was Indian wives who made the camp, packed and moved it, and set it up again. They cooked the bounty of fresh meat, and searched for plants to add variety to the meat diet. They made and stored foods such as jerky and pemmican for consumption during lean winter months. They fashioned clothing from animal skins and took great pride in the quality of their handiwork. Indian wives even cleaned their husband’s guns. Often, fur trappers’ Indian wives and children accompanied them into the wilderness and worked alongside the men. The business of trapping and hunting animals for their pelts thus became a family affair.
Indian women also played important roles in soothing tribal rivalries, preventing tribal wars, and in diplomacy in general. Like a number of traders, many trappers realized that marriage to a chief’s daughter might well be good for business, in addition to basic survival. Mountain man Jim Bridger, for example, married Cora, the daughter of a Flathead chief. In short, marriage helped cement trade ties. The marriage of a fur trader and an Indian woman was not just a private affair between the couple. Instead, the mountain man married into an Indian society and immediately inherited a large kinship network. The bond thus created helped to advance trade relations with a new tribe, and placed the Indian wife in the role of cultural liaison between her husband and her kin. The mountain man’s Indian wife became a bridge between two cultures.
Aside from their obvious merits as skilled workers and diplomats, Indian women were preferred by mountain men simply because there were no other women in the region at the time. Even if white women had been present, it is unlikely that they would have been pursued as wives. They simply did not have the necessary survival skills. George Frederick Ruxton, an English soldier, traveler and writer, spent a winter in the Rocky Mountains with trappers during the fur trade era. He explained the mountain man’s opinion of American (white) women, “American women are valued at a low figure in the mountains. They are too fine and “fofarraw.” Neither can they make moccasins or dress skins. Nor are they schooled to perfect obedience to their lords and masters...”
“Foofaraw” comes from the French word, fanfaron, which means “a boaster of vices or virtues he or she does not possess; a braggart.” As an adjective, the word describes something fancy or affected. “Foofaraw” in the language of the mountain man also refers to a variety of small trade articles and feminine fineries. Examples include tin cones, seashells, trade silver, brass tacks, rings, cooking utensils, clay pipes, hats, pieces of military clothing, hawk bells, ribbons, calico, wools and other trade cloth, and vermillion (a bright red pigment). “Foofaraw” is also a synonym for fanciments, trimmings, decorations for personal adornment.
PRESTIGE AND WEALTH THROUGH MARRIAGE
Why would an Indian maiden want to become the bride of a white mountain man? During the fur trade era, a young Indian woman gained prestige and respect from her people by marrying a white trapper. Some scholars say that many Indian parents, as well as the maidens of a tribe, believed that a white man often made a superior husband. According to some, white men helped their Indian wives more with heavy work, chopping and hauling wood, for example, than Indian husbands of the day would have done.
In addition to status, the mountain man’s Indian wife gained wealth. The mountain man was usually rich by Indian standards, and he spent his gold disks (the Indians called them “buttons without holes”) to purchase many wonderful items for his wife. Some items were for her vanity (trade beads, earrings, metal-backed mirrors), while others made her daily tasks easier (brass kettles, scissors, needles, thread). In her de facto role as cultural liaison, the Indian wife often promoted cultural changes, especially in the use of the white man’s textiles, tools and utensils, and in new arts and crafts techniques.
Mountain men were famous for showing off their Indian wives. At rendezvous and ceremonial times, the mountain man outfitted his wife and her horse to out splendor all other women. Trapper Joe Meek took great pride in the appearance of his Indian wife, Mountain Lamb, for example. He mounted her on a three-hundred-dollar dapple gray horse, and clothed her in a “skirt of beautiful blue broadcloth, and a bodice and leggins of scarlet cloth, of the very finest make.” Mountain Lamb wore “a scarlet silk handkerchief tied on hood fashion...and the finest embroidered moccasins on her feet.”
Not only did the Indian woman who married a trapper benefit from the union, but also all the members of her family were the fortunate beneficiaries of highly coveted European goods and trading privileges. When a mountain man married an Indian woman, he immediately inherited more aunts, uncles and cousins than he ever imagined. Scores of the wife’s relatives came to visit and be presented with many gifts from the rich white man. Sometimes a mountain man and his wife moved far away to avoid her relatives. The kinship marriage conferred usually outweighed the nuisances presented by relatives anxious for foofaraw, however, and many trappers made their homes in the Indian camps.
Sometimes a mountain man took more than one Indian wife. In native societies, a man was considered blessed and most fortunate if he possessed many wives and fathered many children. Mountain man Jim Beckwourth had at least eight Crow wives in separate lodges. An overworked wife was pleased to have a new, younger wife to help with the myriad chores that faced her every day. There was no shame in becoming the new wife of a man who already had one or more. It was considered improper for a man to take extra wives if he could not afford to, however.
“MIXED BLOODS”
Dorion, an interpreter of mixed parentage that lived with the Sioux for some twenty years in the early part of the nineteenth century, said, “The white man scatters his seed like the cottonwood, blown on every careless wind.” Indeed, many of the marriages between mountain men and Indian women produced children. This phenomenon is called miscegenation, an interbreeding of races, especially whites and others.
The upbringing of the children sometimes provided an arena in which the Euro-American and Indian societies clashed. In the fur trade society, while it was acknowledged that Indian women were remarkably devoted and affectionate mothers, Euro-American fathers exercised patriarchal authority. The story of Manuel Lisa, Spaniard and principle in the Missouri Fur Company, provides an example. Lisa decided that the daughter from his marriage to Mitain, an Omaha woman, should have a formal education in St. Louis. He sent the little girl away to the city in the East. Mitain was devastated, and slashed her skin, tore her clothing, and put ashes in her hair, the prescribed rituals of her people for mourning the dead. A few years later, he attempted to send their young son away in the same manner.
The intense grief displayed by Mitain aroused the anger of her people, the Omahas, who believed, like the majority of Indian peoples, that children were virtually the “property” of their mothers by matrilinear right. Only after Omaha chiefs and even government men protested did Lisa yield and let the boy remain with his mother.
ROMANCE AND REALISM
Living today in an industrialized society, we find it difficult to imagine wilderness life as it was in frontier America during the early nineteenth century. Indeed, it is hard to recapture now the experiences of that eventful period in the past or even to picture the land and its people more than a hundred years ago. Therefore, we must turn to the surviving accounts of those who first explored the western wilds. Perhaps none recall those bygone days more vividly than the pictorial reports of the nineteenth-century artists like Alfred Jacob Miller who, in the company of fur trappers and traders, crossed the trackless prairie and the distant Rocky Mountains. In his and other artists’ works the image of the “romance of the Mountain Man”. For some people living in the twentieth century the life of the mountain man is viewed as one of simplicity, getting back to nature, getting away from the restrictions of urban life. For many the mountain man and his life are synonymous with independence and self-reliance, daring and courage, and a “don’t-tread-on-me” attitude.
Some historians have argued plausibly that the American fur trade was never very important economically and moreover was never primarily a Rocky Mountain phenomenon. It has been written that too much recognition has been given to the ‘incredible richness’ of the Rocky Mountain beaver trapping.
Dale L. Morgan stated that: “Maybe the American West was rich only in poor man’s terms.” Morgan’s comment could describe Wyoming’s fur trade history. Lasting only sixteen years the mountain man era existed in Wyoming’s semiarid environment that limited the beaver’s habitat by the scarcity of water, aspen trees, willow trees, and brush.
In comparison with the national and international fur trade the amount of business conducted did not add very much to the gross national product, even though it was the only major economic activity of the region. At its peak the fur trade’s work force of mountain men and traders did not exceed five hundred men. No more than 3,000 men were involved in all fur trade activities west of the Missouri from 1810 to 1845, and most of them earned barely a living wage. Company trappers’ wages were $400.00 a year, with free trappers’ wages less, depending on their luck and initiative. But paintings, motion pictures, books, and even public textbooks have exaggerated the importance of the mountain man. What has been overstated, with romance and color, are the ideas of freedom, independence, and self-reliance of the trapper’s life. Many men stayed in the fur trade only a year or two. The work was often laborious and otherwise disagreeable—lugging six or eight five-pound traps, wading into ice-cold water, setting traps at just the right place so the captured animal would drown before it could chew off its foot, skinning the victims in freezing temperature, or carrying the heavy wet animals back to camp. Tension must have been prevalent—constant fear of Indians, and concern about the safety and welfare of the horses, their only means of transportation. The stress of finding productive beaver ponds year after year to ensure his continued livelihood added to the demands placed upon the mountain man.
DESCRIPTIONS OF TRUNK ITEMS
· BEAVER PELT: The primary fur-bearing animal trapped during the era of the mountain man. It was traded with fur companies for essential materials needed to survive a winter in the mountains.
· BELT: This belt, made of heavy tanned leather with a hand-forged buckle, was worn outside of the shirt and held a knife, tobacco bag, and other personal items. It was wider than the inner belt which was used to hold up trousers, when one was used at all.
· BULLET MOLD: These came in various sizes, depending on the size or type of the bullet that was needed. (Included are two different sizes of bullets.) The size of the bullet determines the “caliber” of the weapon. Hot liquid lead was poured into the mold and cooled to form the round ball.
· CASTOR BOTTLE: Taking a peeled willow wand, the trapper would dip into his castor bottle, which contained castoreum produced from beaver glands. He would spread this yellowish substance near his trap, generally on a limb poised above it. The castoreum produced a scent that attracted beavers from miles away to the location of the trap.
· CLAY TRADE PIPES (2): The practice of smoking tobacco was common among most of the fur trappers and Indians. Clay pipes were light and could be packed anywhere. They were cheap to make and were used for trade between whites and Indians.
· CLOTH CAPS (2): Caps were worn by mountain men chiefly during the winter months for warmth. The styles were so numerous that rarely two were alike. The stocking cap was highly popular with the French-Canadian voyagers. Most were personally decorated with furs, feathers and quilled or beaded designs. Scottish bonnets were worn by trappers from Scotland and decorated with trade silver pieces.
· CLOTH SHIRT: Cloth shirts were worn in the summer when the heat made buckskin clothing uncomfortable. These shirts could be worn under buckskin in the winter for additional warmth. They could be made of cotton, wool, linsey-woolsy, calico, muslin, linen, or pillow ticking and were commonly used as a trade item.
· DECK OF PLAYING CARDS: Many mountain men passed the long winters, and the Rendezvous, gambling with playing cards. Take note of the colored face cards, which include four U.S. Presidents.
· FLINTLOCK PISTOL: The preferred firearm of the mountain men during the fur trade era was the flintlock. “Flintlock” refers to the ignition system used to fire the weapon. A piece of flint fit into the hammer and, when fired, struck the sted freyzen to cause a spark. This spark ignited the black powder in the pan and burned into the barrel to fire the weapon.
· FLINTSTONE: The flintstone and striker were used to start fires much the same way that we use matches. The flint would be struck on the steel to produce a spark. The spark could be “captured” on charcloth and placed into tinder in order to start a flame. (The flint could also be used in a flintlock ignition system to fire a rifle or pistol. See also Steel Striker.)
· GLASS TRADE BEADS (3): There were numerous styles of glass beads that were used as trade items with the various Native American tribes; a few have been included as examples.
· GREEN RIVER KNIFE: This was the trapper’s favorite type of knife. The knives were practical, light, abundant and relatively inexpensive. Because of hard use, the knives frequently wore out but were easy to replace. They were named “Green River” after John Russell’s forge on the Green River in Massachusetts.
· HAWK BELLS (6): These were traded to the Indians for the purpose of decorating clothing.
· HORN COMB: The cow horn comb included in the Trunk has “teeth” of two sizes. The larger teeth were used to straighten the hair while the smaller teeth were used to comb out lice.
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· JAW HARP: Also known as a mouth fiddle and gewgaw, the harp was used as a musical instrument and often accompanied the jovial and out-of-tune singing of the mountain men. The origin of the harp is not known but it can be traced to the 16th century.· WOOL HAT: Hats, styled such as this, were what made the beaver so popular. Although the hat included in the trunk is made of wool, the shape was common to the period and viewed as fashionable in Europe and America.
· KNIFE SHEATH: Case for the blade of a knife made of buckskin or rawhide.
· LEAD BALLS (6): Round bullets of the type used before modern ammunition. (Bullets are .67 caliber.)
· LEAD BAR: Bars similar to this were brought to the mountains and served as the raw material for bullets. The lead would be heated until it was in liquid form and then poured into a bullet mold. As it cooled, the lead would become solid and formed into the desired size for bullets.
· LEATHER BAG: A handy drawstring pouch such as this was ideal for carrying the mountain man’s flint and steel, musket balls or dice.
· MOCCASINS: These were worn by virtually all the mountain men. They were comfortable, durable and more suited to their mountain lifestyles than store-bought shoes. They also enabled the trapper to move about quietly.
· PERCUSSION LOCK PIECE: A type of ignition system for firearms of the period. A brass cap is placed on the nipple and when struck by the hammer, a spark is sent into the breach to fire the weapon. The percussion/cap system was more efficient than the flintlock system and by 1850 the majority of firearms being made were of this type.
· POSSIBLES BAG: This bag served as the carrying pouch for items the mountain man might “possibly” have needed, such as tools for the firearms, tinder to start fires, bullets and personal gear.
· POWDER HORN: A hollowed out horn from a cow or buffalo was used to store the black powder needed to fire a pistol or rifle.
· STEEL BEAVER TRAP: Traps varied in size, style, and method of setting, but the most commonly used beaver traps were double spring and weighed about four to five pounds each. A mountain man would carry six or seven traps in his leather trapsack.
· STEEL POINTS (3): An item used for trading with the Native American tribes. Indians substituted the more efficient steel point over the stone point for their arrows. This allowed them to use the time that would have been used to make arrowheads for other activities.
· STEEL STRIKER: The striker was used to start fires much the same way that we use matches. The flint would be struck on the steel to produce a spark. The spark could be “captured” on charcloth and placed into tinder in order to start a flame.
· TINDER: Tinder was used to start a fire. Charcloth was also used which consisted of cotton squares that had been charcoaled with fire so that they will readily hold a spark. A magnifying glass could be used instead of the flint and striker to produce a spark on the tinder or charcloth.
· TINDER BOX: This style of box is similar to that issued to the trappers by the Hudson’s Bay Company during the fur trade era. Tinder along with the flint and striker could be carried in the box and used to start fires. A magnifying glass could be used instead of the flint and striker to produce a spark on the charcloth. The charcloth consists of cotton squares that have been charcoaled with fire so that they will readily hold a spark.
· TOBACCO CANTEEN: Made from rawhide sewn together when wet, pounded full of sand and allowed to dry. Popular for storing tobacco, but can be used to store beads, percussion caps, small caliber lead bullets, and other items.
· TOMAHAWK: This was an item that figured prominently in both the trade and personal life of the mountain man. Tomahawks and trade axes of numerous styles circulated widely throughout the fur trade region. Sometimes designs such as weeping hearts were cut into the blades of the “hawks.” Brass tacks nearly always adorned the handle and beaded pendants were frequently seen on Indian-owned tomahawks.
· TRADE CLOTH (2): Since Native Americans did not produce cloth, this item was one of several that was transported to the mountains and used by the mountain men to trade for furs or other items they might have needed.
· TRADE MIRROR: Another item used for trading with the various Native American tribes.
· TRADE SILVER PIECES (2): During the later years of the fur trade era, the mountain men traded silver to the Plains Indians in exchange for furs. The Indians used the silver as ornaments on their clothing and in their hair.
· TROUSERS: These 1820s men’s trousers are made of cotton canvas with pewter buttons to which suspenders were attached. Cloth pants like these were brought form back East. As they disintegrated due to the wear and tear of the rigorous outdoor life, many men patched the trousers with deerskin or lined them with animal skin to extend their useful life. Ultimately the cotton trousers fell apart and they were replaced by clothing fashioned from animal skins, as the mountain man left behind Anglo culture and embraced Native American culture in order to survive in the mountains.
· TWIST TOBACCO: A form of tobacco used by mountain men. Tobacco was either chewed or smoked or put against a tooth to alleviate a toothache.
· WOODEN DICE: Many mountain men passed the long winters, and the Rendezvous, gambling with dice.
· WOODEN WATER CANTEEN: Pinewood construction with nailed wooden hoops, lined with brewers pitch. Common among many fur trappers.
(end)
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This was a lesson learned by all the males involved, our girls were as good as any of their counterparts any day of the week. The main reason as mentioned - they listened while the boys thought they knew more than the instructors. Such is life, pay attention folks when someone with the knowledge your looking for speaks - hear them.
