History repeats itself at Two Rivers Rendezvous

The smoke from cook fires rose gently through the tree canopy as trappers and traders prepared for a day of showing off their shooting skills at the Two Rivers Rendezvous in Libby.

Children ran around, excited for the day’s tomahawk contests while women in prairie dresses and men in buckskins and calico shirts checked over their weapons: caplock and flintlock rifles, single-shot pistols, smoothbore guns, tomahawks, knives and bows.

For the early morning, the Fawn Creek Campground might be a peaceful scene from the 1840s, but soon the cook smoke would be replaced with the smell of black powder and the bark of guns, clang of targets and shouts of triumph.

Variations on this same scene have played out at the Fawn Creek Campground every year since 1996 as part of the Kootenai Muzzleloaders’ Two Rivers Rendezvous event, celebrating the Fur Trade era of Western history.

This year’s rendezvous is July 19-21.

“It’s a celebration of the Fur Trade era, from pre-1840 times,” event organizer Mark Morain said. “There are competitions with blackpowder rifles and pistols, knife, ’hawk, games for the kids and so on.”

Morain has been involved with the Rendezvous from the beginning.

“It’s grown from a very small event to a very large event,” he said. “We started out with about 28 people and now we get 125 to 200 participants each year.”

Those participants are not just local enthusiasts, either. According to event organizer Dave Windom, visitors come from as far away as Florida and Alaska.

“Some years we’ve had as many as 500 participants,” Windom said. “One year we had people from 11 different states and Canada.”

Rendezvous such as the Two Rivers event were yearly events during the 1800s at the height of the fur trade. Each summer, trappers would gather to trade pelts for supplies and money, as well as show off skills, socialize and get the latest news and gossip.

The events continue across the West today as places where period enthusiasts can engage in many of the same favorite activities as the past.

“The Two Rivers Rendezvous started because there was a group of us in Libby that wanted to have a closer rendezvous,” Windom said. “It’s just grown from there.”

Participants are expected to use period-appropriate equipment, from camping to shooting, and are expected to dress the part as well.

“We do award points based on authenticity when it comes to the competitions,” Windom said. “But you don’t have to dress the part if you’re not participating, and we do encourage visitors.”

Morain said there is a small camping and shooting fee to participate, but otherwise the event is free and will include games for the kids as well as vendors and a chance to try your hand at some of those early skills so essential to the life of a mountain man.

“I’ve been interested in history and the shooting sports since I was a little boy, many years ago,” Morain said. “I’ve been shooting black powder for about 35 years now, and this is just a great event to learn what it’s all about. Visitors are welcome to come and observe, without having to dress up. We do encourage it, though.”

Visitors to the event can camp on site, but in a separate area. Primitive and “modern” camping sites are available.

“It’s a very family-friendly event,” Windom said. “It’s very relaxed and fun, and we encourage people to bring their kids out.”

The Rendezvous will feature several shooting “trails” for participants to try, including traditional archery, pistol and rifle.

“We don’t use paper targets,” Windom said. “We’ve got things that clang, bang or break when you hit them, like lengths of chain. So you walk down the trail and shoot at the various targets.”

Morain said the competitions are arranged as a “blanket shoot,” where competitors pay an entry fee and donate a prize to the blanket.

“At the end, the high-scoring person picks a prize off the blanket and we just go down the line, so everyone gets something,” Morain said. “You bring something, you get something.”

Other events include a tomahawk block, where kids and adults can practice throwing, and a “long shoot.”

“The kids love the ’hawk block and they can do that all day,” Windom said. “The long shoot is pretty fun, too. If you hit the target, you back up 10 paces and go again. It goes on until there’s only one person left.”

The Rendezvous is July 19 through 21 at the Fawn Creek Campground on Fisher River Road in Libby. The event is free for spectators and camping opens Thursday, July 18. Potable water is not available on site, so campers are encouraged to bring their own supplies.

For more information, visit the event website at www.libbymt.com/events/tworiversrendezvous.htm or contact Windom at 283-1916 or Morain at 293-8239.

Reporter Melissa Walther may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at mwalther@dailyinterlake.com.