The Fort Bridger Rendezvous is an annual reenactment of fur trading as it happened from 1825 to 1840 between

mountain men A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

, Native Americans, fur trappers and traders. The event takes place at Fort Bridger,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

on first weekend of September. This family-friendly event is one of the largest mountain man gatherings in the nation.

History

The

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

era was from 1825 to 1840. It was caused by the popularity of

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

skin hats on the east coast of the United States and Europe. In response to the high demand fur trappers and traders headed west to hunt for beaver. In the fall and winter the beavers would be hunted and their pelts would be scraped, stretched and salted for shipment. Then in the spring and summer these trappers would travel over 1,000 miles one way to St. Louis so they could sell their product for supplies. The suppliers decided it would be more effective coming to the mountain men and trading supplies for the furs there instead of St. Louis, thus the Rendezvous was born. The first Rendezvous took place in southern Wyoming in 1825. Every year over

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

weekend the town of

Fort Bridger, Wyoming Fort Bridger is a census-designated place (CDP) in eastern Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 345 at the 2010 census. The community takes its name from the eponymous Fort Bridger, established in 1842, which is located wit ...

holds a reenactment of the Rendezvous which took place during the Fur Trade Era. Marksmanship contests are held with rifles of the time period, along with axe throwing contests and archery. Foods of the time period are also sold, and the Fort Bridger Historical site has workshops people can get involved in to learn about what life was like in those days.

References

Retrieved on 07/02/08 Retrieved on 07/02/08 Retrieved on 07/02/08 Fort Bridger Photos
/ref> Retrieved on 07/02/08

External links

Fort Bridger Rendezvous
- official site Tourist attractions in Uinta County, Wyoming Historical reenactment events Tourist attractions in Wyoming {{Wyoming-stub