Connah welcomes all comers

“We’re going to have some fun down here with atlatl,” David Steindorf told the Evergreen eighth-graders squinting in the sun. “You’ll get a chance to throw one.”

Flags for the United States, Hudson’s Bay Company and Flathead Nation fluttered in the wind as Steindorf and other Fort Connah Restoration Society volunteers moved dozens of kids through a key piece of history in late April. They'll do it again for the general public at their rendezvous June 14 and 15. 

Fort Connah, a place I’ve whipped by on U.S. 93 north of St. Ignatius, first hit my radar at a presentation last year by Michael J. Ober about Montana listings on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Ober's trivia quiz included the state’s oldest standing wood building: Fort Connah, completed by Scotsman Angus McDonald in 1847. 

Only a storehouse of the original trading post remains, but it and other re-created buildings situated near bucolic Post Creek show where entrepreneurial adventurers came from the north to dispense staples, muskets and cooking pots in return for pemmican and pelts. 

Steindorf wore a blue tunic, a beat-up tan hat and colorful sashes at his waist and knees to play tour guide and historian. Bison products fueled people and industry.  

“Bison hides were stronger than any other kind of hides,” he said. “They made very good conveyor belts.” 

First, we paid our respects. Standing among grave markers a short walk away, Steindorf said that after retirement “Angus McDonald settled in this area. Due to their family heritage, it’s why we still have this here,” deftly summarizing a complex land deal by the late Joe McDonald, the founder and longtime president of Salish Kootenai College, and a descendant of Angus and his Nez Perce-Métis wife, Catherine.   

Like Angus, who played his bagpipes freely (the Salish called them “the bag that whistles”), worked well with everyone, performed sword dances as a party trick, wrote poetry and spoke French at home, Joe was remarkable. 

“He was so open to both white people and tribal,” Tammy Steindorf, another volunteer and wife of David, said as she assumed the role of storekeep. 

Teens milled around in the low light inside and she invited them to experience the pelt display: “See if you can guess what they are.” She urged, “This is a hands-on thing.” 

Nearby Linda Kittle and Mary Sale showed processing of wool and products such as lanolin, which served as a base for salves and medicines. 

Next door Mark Steele talked about guns, including the game-changing Pennsylvania long rifle, as well as knives and other multiuse tools.  

“This is a trade tomahawk,” he said. “It’s also a pipe.” 

We headed to the throwing range, presided over by Gary Steele and Teri Miller, who said, “The spear, then atlatl changed life for prehistoric man almost more than fire did.” 

“When people throw stuff I see a light in their eyes,” knife guy Gary said. “We tap into primal memories.” 

Two boys gave it a try. One made throws that never stuck — “I’m horrible,” he said. His buddy landed all, and they laughed. 

Alex Aiken, the math teacher looking on, said, “He can be hunter, I’ll be gatherer.” 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.