Historical Re-enactors/Rendezvous

voyageur arriving by wheels at Prairie du Chien, 1996
Two voyageurs, Prairie du Chien, 1996
Socializing happens continuously, Prairie du Chien, 1996
Red Bear at Shining Times, 1996
Restored Trading Post at Shining Times, 1996
Rainy Day exhaustion. Family at Bloody Lake, 1996
Purchasing food is an option, Bloody Lake, 1996
Muzzleloading competition, Bloody Lake, 1994
Multiple vendors provide new recreations, Bloody Lake, 1996
Iowa Muzzleloader Gun Club, Bloody Lake, 1996
Horses welcome at Sining Times, 1997
Getting Dressed. Shining Times Rendezvous, 1997
Fur Trader, Shining Times, 1996
Early morning at Shining Times, 1996
Contents of recreated voyageur's pack, 1996
Contemplating the Shining Times valley, 1996
Childrens' games at Shining Times, 2000
Carrying the votyageur's pack, Sining Times 1996
Bear Claw necklace fabricated in resin by its wearer, Prairie du Chien Rendezvous, 1996
Arrival for re-enactment at Prairie du Chien.1996
Arrival at Bloody Lake rendezvous, 1996
All-camp dinner. Shining Times, 1996
Actual wedding in authentic dress at Prairie du Chien, 1996
,Re-enacting the Jesuit presence at Bloody Lake, 1994

Thanks to a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council/National Council on the Humanities, I followed historical re-enactors  of the fur trade era from Midwestern states as they gathered at “rendezvous” in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Over 1,000 negatives document historical clothing, equipment, campsites and activities, even a real wedding in period dress.  The exhibit which developed featured abstracted ‘campsites’ and ‘trading posts’ as display structures, and traveled to actual historic fur trading sites.