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Rendezvous on the River of Memories
According to legend, a very powerful Chief sent a warrior messenger to request a delegation of Menomonee and Ho-Chunk to meet in grand council, at the Big Bend in the river now known as Portage. The messenger lost his belt of wampum that represented his badge of office. While sleeping on the banks of a beautiful river he dreamed of the spot he left his wampum. After recovering his beaded belt the messenger name the river, where he had his dream, the Le-Mo-We, the River of Memories.
The Lemonweir River near the site of the Effigy Mounds in New Lisbon
On Oct. 10, 11 and 12 of 2003 the Lemonweir River in Mauston, Wisconsin saw signs of the past re-emerge in the "River of Memories Rendezvous Days." This encampment attempts to replicate what life in Wisconsin in the mid-1800's. Buckskinners and re-enactors make this a historical and family event creating a atmosphere of an early Rendezvous with tepees, furs, leather crafts, black powder shoots, campfire cooking, authentic clothing and merchant sellers.
The camp as a whole.
The rendezvous gathering enabled traders from the various fur companies to bring their trade goods to the interior of the country, meeting the trappers to trade for their furs, in the hopes of beating their "competition."
Buckskinners gathered to talk and exchange stories throughout the event.
Demonstrations of lifestyles and outdoor skills typical of the time period occurred throughout the weekend. The area of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota was part of a colony named "New France" 1603 to 1783 when the British claimed the territory in the Treaty of Paris. In 1820, Native Americans still owned all of Wisconsin. By 1842 they had been forced to give up all title to Wisconsin land.
The camp women trying their skills in hatchet throwing.
Rendezvous visitors see the establishment of a complete and functional fur traders camp, including meal preparation and clothes washing. The camps teepees, tents and shelters attempt to re-create the ambience of the time. They dramatize life the way it was in camps 150 to 200 years ago.
A blacksmith demonstrates his skill and technique.
Heating the fire with the bellows.
This huge skull is of the Bison or Buffalo.
And just for scale...this is the jawbone of the Buffalo skull.
Most of the text for this feature comes from the River of Memories Rendezvous brochure brought to you by the Castle Rock Petenwell Lakes association.