Way back when, folks defined an economic crisis not by debt ceilings, hedge funds and fiscal neutrality, but by a lack of beaver pelts.
Step back to the days of living off the land when the family-friendly Santa Fe Mountain Man Trade Fair takes over the Palace Courtyard, Aug. 11-14.
Craftspeople and re-enactors in period clothing will help you figure out how to make your own knives, tan an elk hide, handle a raptor, and other tricks of early 1800s hunters and trappers.
Enter for free ($1 donations welcome) through the Blue Gate, just south of the History Museum’s entrance at 113 Lincoln Avenue. Or add a visit to the History Museum and the Palace of the Governors, where children 16 and under are always free. Admission for N.M. adults is $6, $9 for others.
The schedule:
Thursday, Aug. 11
8-10am: Early admission ($10/person)
10am-4:30pm: Trade Fair open
10am: History of Hawken and other Plains rifles and loading demonstration, by Bill Henaman
12pm: Fleshing tools and types of clothing, by Don Lankford and Mark Wilke
Friday,Aug. 12
9am-4:30pm: Trade Fair open
10am: Knives and knife making, by Smitty
12pm: Beaver trapping, by Jeff Hengesbaugh
2pm: Moccasin making, by Mike Guli
6pm: “Through her Eyes: An American Indian Woman’s Perspective,” lecture by Eunice Petramala in the NMHM auditorium
Saturday, Aug. 13
9am-4:30 pm: Trade Fair open
10am: Primitive fire starting, by Lynn Canterbury
11am-1pm: The Wildlife Center in Española shows snakes and raptors
2pm: 19th-century iron-working techniques, by Gary Schluter
2:30pm: Hands-on History: Trade goods and tools of the Mountain Man
Sunday, Aug. 14
9am-3pm: Trade Fair open
10am: Moccasin making, by Debbie Wheeler
1pm: Trade goods of the fur trade, by Robert Blanchet
Ongoing demonstrations
Blacksmithing, by Bill Van de Valde
Brain tanning an elk hide, by Barbara Scott
The tradition of the Mountain Man Rendezvous started in the West in1825. Originally a gathering to exchange pelts for supplies and to reorganize trapping units, it evolved into a month-long carnival in the wilderness. There were horse races, running races, card games, checkers, target shooting, singing and gambling. Whiskey drinking, not surprisingly, accompanied it all. (FYI: The History Museum’s version does not include alcohol.)
The Santa Fe Mountain Man Trade Fair is sponsored by Los Compadres, a support group of the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors.
Image above: Children at a previous year’s Trade Fair practice tanning an elk hide.
Phone number for publication: 505-476-5200
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