Written by Kyle
Summer has come around again which means mountain man rendezvous are happening! Last year I was able to attend my first rendezvous when the Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous was held here in Creede, Colorado. This year the nationals are being held in Lonetree, Wyoming, however the Wild Bill Rendezvous was held right down the road from our cabin here in Creede, CO this June. This year Wild Bill didn’t make it….hence the (A’int Here) in the name this year! Jay and Ramona Weber from Wild Beaver Mountain Man Emporium did all the heavy making this Rendezvous happen, so if you are in Creede make sure to visit their store!
I spent the winter working on some new clothing, which would be correct to the fur trapper era, as well as building a black powder muzzle loader rifle as well. I also pulled Bee into this project, utilizing her sewing skills to help with some things like making an appropriate shirt and helping pattern my vest. She also made a new shirt and dress of her own so she could join me at this years event.
The nice thing about this rendezvous being so close to home is I was able to pop in and out through the week and still work my day job. I went in the first day of the weeklong rendezvous to get the lay of the land, said hello to everybody, and checked out the short-term camping situation. I acquired a canvas wedge tent, but I had not yet waterproofed it…and of course, every afternoon that week it rained!
Later in the week I was able to test my newly built rifle out. It changes the experience shooting in costume and loading from my possibles bag, and because that day there weren’t too many people at the range I was able to really test the limits of my rifle, backing up further and further until I was 100 yards from the target. I was pretty impressed at the accuracy for a black powder rifle with iron sights.
During the week I managed to get my tent waterproofed (or waterproof enough any way), and decided Friday morning I would go in and set up camp. I arrived and the weather that day was beautiful, I set up my camp using period correct items as much as possible, and spent time hanging out with the rest of the attendees. Bee joined me in the evening so I could cook her a steak dinner over the open fire!
That evening I attended the auction, the proceeds from the donated items helped to pay for the event. That evening, we all gathered in the main tent to listen to the band play some music, listen to Woodman tell some trapper tall tales, and there may or may not have been some mason jars passed around.
The next morning, I was woken up at 6:15 AM by the sound of a cannon! This was new to me, I’d heard the cannon before, but I had no idea there was a wake up call: I think if I had known I may have gone to bed a bit earlier! I spent the morning chatting with a couple people and cooking breakfast over the fire. At 9 AM there was a flag ceremony signaling the end of the rendezvous so I said my goodbyes, packed up camp and headed back home.
This was definitely a lot of fun, and not just a normal camp out. The fact everybody is dressed in a certain era of clothing and using equipment from those eras definitely made it feel completely different from any camp I’ve ever done. It’s really interesting talking to some of these people who have been doing this for decades, listening to their stories and journeys in this world, and discussing all the clothing and accoutrement they have made themselves. Goodbye camp until the next rendezvous!
Ramble Around 
Love the photos and the period clothing. Very interesting topic, I remember a movie called Jeremiah Johnson where Robert Redford was a mountain man.
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