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Santa Fe
Mountain
Man Trade Fair
Learn the old-time tricks of living off the land
Way back when, folks defined
an economic crisis not by debt ceilings, hedge
funds and fiscal neutrality, but by a lack of
beaver pelts.
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Step back to
those days of living off the land when
the family-friendly Santa Fe Mountain
Man Trade Fair takes over the Palace
Courtyard, Aug. 11-14.
Craftspeople
and re-enactors in period clothing will
help you figure out how to make your own
knives, tan an elk hide, handle a
raptor, and other tricks of early 1800s
hunters and trappers.
Enter for free ($1 donations welcome)
through the Blue Gate, just south of the
History Museum’s entrance at 113 Lincoln
Avenue. Or add a visit to the History
Museum and the Palace of the Governors,
where children 16 and under are always
free. Admission for N.M. adults is $6,
$9 for others. |
The schedule:
Thursday,
Aug. 11
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8-10am:
Early admission ($10/person)
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10am-4:30pm: Trade Fair open
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10am:
History of Hawken and other Plains rifles
and loading demonstration, by Bill Henaman
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12pm:
Fleshing tools and types of clothing, by Don
Lankford and Mark Wilke
Friday,
Aug. 12
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9am-4:30pm: Trade Fair open
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10am:
Knives and knife making, by Smitty
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12pm:
Beaver trapping, by Jeff Hengesbaugh
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2pm:
Moccasin making, by Mike Guli
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6pm:
“Through her Eyes: An American Indian
Woman’s Perspective,” lecture by Eunice
Petramala in the NMHM auditorium
Saturday,
Aug. 13
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9am-4:30
pm: Trade Fair open
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10am:
Primitive fire starting,by Lynn Canterbury
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11am-1pm: The Wildlife Center in Española
shows snakes and raptors
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2pm:
19th-century iron-working techniques, by
Gary Schluter
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2:30pm:
Hands-on History: Trade goods and tools of
the Mountain Man
Sunday, Aug. 14
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9am-3pm:
Trade Fair open
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10am:
Moccasin making, by Debbie Wheeler
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1pm:
Trade goods of the fur trade, by Robert
Blanchet
Ongoing
demonstrations
Blacksmithing, by Bill Van de Valde
Brain tanning an elk hide, by Barbara Scott
The
tradition of the Mountain Man Rendezvous started
in the West in1825. Originally a gathering to
exchange pelts for supplies and to reorganize
trapping units, it evolved into a month-long
carnival in the wilderness. There were horse
races, running races, card games, checkers,
target shooting, singing and gambling. Whiskey
drinking, not surprisingly, accompanied it all.
(FYI: The History Museum’s version does not
include alcohol.)
The Santa Fe
Mountain Man Trade Fair is sponsored by Los
Compadres, a support group of the New Mexico
History Museum/Palace of the Governors.
Image
above: Children at a previous year’s Trade Fair
practice tanning an elk hide.
The New
Mexico History Museum is the newest addition to
a campus that includes the Palace of the
Governors, the oldest continuously occupied
public building in the United States; Fray
Angélico Chávez History Library; Palace of the
Governors Photo Archives; the Press at the
Palace of the Governors; and the Native American
Artisans Program. A division of the Department
of Cultural Affairs. Visit
www.nmhistorymuseum.org.
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