Time to rendezvous with the Beaver Creek crew

STERLING — The Beaver Creek Free Trappers are having their fall rendezvous this weekend, and you’re invited to step back in time with these modern-day mountain men and women.

That’s right, it’s a return to a tradition from the early 1880s where independent trappers would get together at locations for days of contests, camping and commerce. The rendezvous system began in the United States’ early days, when companies would haul supplies to specific mountain locations in the spring and fall, engage in trading with trappers, and bring pelts back to communities on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in the fall.

The days would be filled with trading and mountain man contests of blackpowder shooting as well as knife and hatchet precision. The nights would be filled with socializing and fun.

According to Steve Stricklin, a member of the Beaver Creek crew as well as a living history educator, that’s pretty much the same thing done in pretty much the same way as it started. He said it’s a modern way of preserving history while sharing it with another generation.

At the Beaver Creek Free Trapper Rendezvous and other reenacted events, you’ll see participants will be dressed in pre-1840s clothing, typically of handmade muslin, linen and buckskin. Many carry black powder rifles while some show proficiency with the bow and arrow. There also will be an array of handmade tomahawks and knives for throwing as well as fire-starting skills on display during the contests.

Visitors are invited to try their hand at any of the free trapper contests or just try it out and see what it’s like firsthand.

Usually, the fall rendezvous is planned in conjunction with a partnership with the Museum of the Great Plains where an encampment at the Trading Post is held. The event is often busy with school field trips of students learning these old ways first-hand.

Stricklin said that due to the reconstruction project underway at the Trading Post, this tradition is put on hold this fall. He hopes it returns in the spring.

However, the public is welcome all day, every day at the Beaver Creek refuge near Sterling. Events usually kick off around 9 a.m. and competition ends at 4 p.m. each day.

Always on the lookout for new members, the Beaver Creek Free Trappers are out at their land at 9 a.m. every third Saturday or the month to keep their sharpshooting skills in shape, except for rendezvous months.