Mountain men rendezvous in McGaffey

ABOVE: Greg Collins and Ken Bombay, right, compete in a flint-lock muzzelloader shooting contest at the New Mexico Mountain Man 1830 fur trade re-enactment in McGaffey Saturday, August 30. BELOW: Jason Hall from Tijeras, NM sits at camp during the New Mexico Mountain Man 1830 fur trade re-enactment in McGaffey Saturday, August 30. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

MCGAFFEY — To the crack of black powder weapons and the whish-thump of thrown arms, about 35 members of the New Mexico Mountain men and their children “rendezvoused” in McGaffey over the long weekend.

The lakeside gathering, called a rendezvous after the old French trapper and trader custom of the last century, was the 25th or 26th at the lake, Booshway Myron Yancey said. Yancey said the McGaffey gathering started around 1977 as a Memorial Day event, moved to Corona for about five years, then returned to the lake location for Labor Days.

The booshway, or leader/organizer, said fire conditions are dry and restrictive in May and June but campers can usually make fires safely in September when the area has had some rain.

Mountain Men Rendezvous are based on fur trapper gatherings that started in 1825 and provided a place to trade furs and gather supplies for outback trips, according the club’s Web site.

Yancey said modern rendezvous serve a similar purpose as regular meetings throughout the state where black powder and antique weapon enthusiasts can talk shop, find parts and tools for their activities and learn from each other.
One person may tell another while visiting his or her camp,

“Here’s how I do that,” and have yet a third person say, “Here’s a better way,” while they reach to learn how the past survived.

“A lot of teachers are into this. Not so much for black powder but into the history,” Yancey said. “We cook in correct period style,” he said.

“Saturday, we had a good potluck,” he added, saying people from the 37 camps cooked on-site and contributed.

Period clothes, customs, and implements are the tools of the trade for mountain men, who can be thought of as re-enactors or as historical preservationists. Some of the tools club members use are antiques but many are fabricated in period fashion.

Traders such “Dutch,” who is a smith and trades in hand made cast iron and other metal necessities, put period wares out for club members and observers to examine. Hides, leather, clothes and gun parts can all been seen spread out on blankets at most rendezvous, Yancey said.

Today’s Mountain Men include active women and children.

“It is a cheap type of family entertainment. Thirty dollars for a weekend,” Yancey said, although a family fee is a bit higher.
The booshway said that in competitions, women have their own events and can compete in open events against the men. Boys and girls compete, as well.

Scott Koons, flintknapper and skinner from Zuni, said his daughter Nita, 7, got to pick her cast iron prize from a selection on a blanket as a junior participant.

Competition events included a complicated trail walk where walkers use tomahawk and knife against targets, then move to pistol, flintlock and other long gun shooting for target points and individual categories. Archers also compete to select a prize from the period-related offerings set out.

Mountain Men and families competed to prepare for a trek into the wilderness: setting traps, building a fire with steel and flint and doing some shooting — this year’s shortest time at McGaffey was 6 minutes, with Yancey coming in last at 13 minutes. The local competition didn’t include packing a steel drum “horse,” which is often added to the event.

Information: New Mexico Mountain Men Booshway Myron Yancey, (505) 286-7764

On the Web: http://cap-n-ball.com/nmmm/