2015 Engages Christmas

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from the 2015 Engages Christmas at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. 2015 Engages Christmas
Fort Union

Friday, December 4th, 2015
In a year’s time I’ve finally been able to take each one of my kids on an overnight with me. Today I took my son Garrick with me. Tonight we’d be staying in the clerk’s office at Fort Union, where later on tomorrow evening we’d be celebrating Engages Christmas. Besides the usual gear that we brought with us we a few special things as well: stamped and frozen gingerbread cookie dough, turkey, two boiled deer hearts and a mule deer buck. The gingerbread cookies and the turkey I

would cook tomorrow in FUMLA’s tin kitchen reflector over in front of the hearth in the clerk’s office and the the mule deer buck we would hang up from the cross supports on the wall to skin and rough process. The hearts we would slice up and pair with swiss cheese for the dinner tomorrow evening.  Processing wild game would have been a commonplace occurrence at Fort Union.

Garrick and I arrived at dark. We were met by Rod who was enjoying some reading and a cup of coffee at the table in the clerk’s office. I brought the turkey into the bourgeois house where it could finish thawing for tomorrow and then Rod helped me bring the deer into the clerk’s office on a piece of canvas to warm up for processing tomorrow. The deer was in a bit of posed state as a result of the trip to the fort and now completely frozen. I kept doing double takes as it seemed it was watching our every move.

The dinner Garrick and I had consisted of some bread, meat and cheese. Rod and I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get some larger chunks of firewood for the night since most of the wood that was in the clerk’s office was good for getting a fire in the hearth started and established, but not to keep the heat going. We went outside and loaded the wooden wheelbarrow with larger pieces and then stacked them inside. After awhile Garrick wanted to go to sleep so I prepared our bedding on the floor towards one side of the hearth.  

Rod and I enjoyed our pipes filled with tobacco I had received as part of my issued rations at the Fur Trade Symposium at Bent’s Fort in September. It was good tobacco. It had gotten dried out since I had kept it in some trade cloth so I put it in an airtight container and mixed in some rum to give it some life again. We did some reading by candle and firelight before turning in for the evening. I started to read “Pierre’s Hole” by Jim Hardee.

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

Garrick the three and a half year old tossed and turned all night in our bedroll, making my ribs and face the recipient of many elbows and knees. Rod and I basically took turns throughout the night keeping wood on the fire.  When Garrick and I got up Rod had already left to take care of his morning chores.

The first thing I did was drag the “posed” deer closer to the fireplace to continue to warm it up. I then got some bacon frying in my little skillet for breakfast. The smell of bacon woke Garrick up. All three of the kids have demanded bacon when they camp with me. We made bacon sandwiches. The rest of the bacon was cut up and put into my lidded copper kettle along with the beans that had been soaking since lastnight.

Next order of business was to get the gingerbread cookies started. This was the first time I had made cookies in the tin kitchen. Garrick helped rub butter onto the small tin cooking sheets and lay

out the cookies onto them.We had square cookies that had been stamped with Luther’s Rose and smaller ones where the kids had rolled the dough into a skinny log and cut short pieces from. The first batch got a little dark unfortunately. I was distracted by a small group of visitors that came in with Ranger MacVaugh. They wanted to know what would be appropriate personas for events and what would be appropriate items to sell. It was a bit more involved than that...however…’nuff said about that… Second batch of gingerbread cookies turned out better.

After the cookies were I took the small kettle of beans and bacon into the trade room and set them to cooking over the fire. After that I trussed the turkey, seasoned the outside, put it on the large skewer and loaded it into the tin kitchen. This is the largest thing I’ve made in the tin kitchen. It was a 12 pound bird. I tossed three sticks of butter into the bottom to melt to baste the bird throughout the day. Around 12:30 is when I set the tin kitchen in front of the hearth in the clerk’s office. After I got that situated I loaded up more wood to last the rest of the afternoon and on into the evening.

Rod arrived later on along with Dave F. and Tod. They helped me get the deer, which no longer

looked like a posed frozen animal, hung up on the cross beams of the wall. We skinned the deer and did the rough processing of it. The meat and the quarters were tied wrapped up in the deer’s. We were hoping for some visitors during the process but we had no more today. Brandon arrived with Jess and gave me a roast from his deer. Kim, the kids and I will enjoy it as part of a meal next week.

We had a good number of folks for the dinner tonight. There was a lot of food as well. Potatoes, green beans, two turkeys, ham, rolls, pie, pie and pie, deer heart, lefse, and Kim made a cranberry tart from Amelia Simmons 1796 collection, "American Cookery”. Bob S introduced us to a few new games and did a drawing for all people present for a piece of artwork. He even swore off the Northwest Company and swore allegiance to the American Fur Company.

Lots of food, games, laughter, beverages, conversations and even music all to the light of candles

and the hearth. I played a variety of historic Christmas music ranging primarily from the 1600s to as late as the 1880s. Everyone seemed to have a great evening. At the end of the evening I just enjoyed playing my guitar and watching all that was going on around me. For a few short hours this evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal and time with each other, as a friend calls FUMLA, our Muzzleloader family.

Garrick and I would not be spending the night this evening and would be headed back with Kim and the girls. About five or so of the other guys would be. I was bummed, but I was able to stay with Garrick and Rod lastnight, made cookies and a turkey with Garrick in a historic tin kitchen, processed a deer and got to enjoy a wonderful meal with good friends. Pretty tough to beat that. Happy Christmas everyone.

-- Leifer

2015 Fort Union Rendezvous

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from the 2015 Fort Union Rendezvous at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site.

Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
Fort Union Rendezvous
This year Rendezvous is going to be a bit different. I will be here both as a living historian and as a park ranger. Earlier today I was able to get our tent set up in the camp next to Paul’s and was able to drop off all the blankets in it for my family. I figured this would be a good way to go as it would be one less thing to worry about when my family arrived tonight. It turned out to be a good idea. When we arrived this evening it was raining. We sat in the van for a short while until the rain subsided enough to go outside. We met Paul and Brandon and our friends of the Canadien contingent, Mark & Chris, Mike & Megan and their son Rhett.

After the rain had essential quick we unloaded the kids and transferred the rest of our gear to the tent. We had Kim’s new rain fly and I hadn’t had a chance to put together a ridgepole and end pole for it. I scrounged the old broken tipi poles and cut them to length with Paul’s buck saw. After he returned on a short hike with the kids he helped me put up the fly and get it staked down.

After we got the kids put down we spent a few hours talking with Brandon and Paul before we finally retired for the evening. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I’ll need to get the trapper camp demo set up early for tomorrow’s Kids Day.

Thursday, June 18th, 2015

Fort Union Rendezvous
I got up early this morning so my usual routine would be done with sooner. 

I gathered a set of poles to put together a lean-to shelter for our trapper camp. Rod and Sawyer helped me put it together. It consisted of two tripods, a horizontal pole running between the two and several poles leaning against the horizontal. We then tied the ground cloth to it and placed my buffalo robe under it. Rob and Moriah brought us a table that wasn’t being used in the clerk’s office to be used as a display table for our demo area. Rod was able to display his horse gear on it along with historic traps and equipment. Tod was able to make it out today and help with the demo. He brought his two horses along and they were able to use them later on with Rod’s demo on horse use and tack of the fur trade. Rod said at one point, “By the way, Mark and Charlotte arrived.” “They are!?” I said with a smile on my face. Rod chuckled and responded, “Now he’s excited.” I was looking forward to seeing them and talking with Charlotte about a clothing project and with Mark about my rifle. It would have to wait for now.

Due to safety reasons we were not able to build our usual open fire in our demo area that is inside of where the dwelling range used to be so we were using a “double brazier” instead, which we surrounded with firewood to mask it as best as we could. Rod brought some ribs to roast over the fire like we had done last year. By good providence I had managed to trap a rabbit earlier this morning that we would roast over the fire later.

We had a large number of kids and parents

stop by our demo area. We seemed to be a popular place to stop by. It was good having Tod join us in the demo this year. At times we had so many people stopping by that all three of us were talking to different people at the same time. Chris had been doing Indian Sign Language with the kids right behind us by the hunter shack and later on would be doing his presentation as Hugh Glass. We answered a lot of questions and explained the difference between the rendezvous system and the trading post system during the fur trade. The visitors seemed to enjoy seeing and hold the period beaver traps, feeling the beaver tail and smelling the bait in Rod’s bait bottle. In the afternoon my beaver plew had finished thawing so I was able to flesh it on the beam as visitors stopped by the trapper camp. Gordon stopped in with a piece of pottery he’d made for me. 

Most of the day was spent inside of the fort walls. It took several attempts, but, I was finally able to escape to the outside for the evening. The first stop was to see Gordon and Susan, my favorite potters. I’ll be stopping in to see them again to pick up a few more pieces. Next I stopped in to see Mark and Charlotte. Mark said he’d brought my rifle to work on during his gunsmithing demos and that we’d talk about my rifle later on when I had more time.

Photo by Kris Baxter

I got a fire going for Kim and set to making dinner for us. Slab bacon, sliced thick, and sliced potatoes. The kids really enjoyed it. This year was the first time they were able to roam around quite a bit. While Tod, Rod and I were doing our trapper camp demo Kim was helping at the craft area. Sig, Bryn and Garrick played around inside the walls during the day and later on were hunting toads with their friends. They had done well today with their freedom.

After the kids went down for the night we went next door to Paul’s tent and enjoyed some libations and talked for several hours... When we made it back to our tent I was very surprised to see just how late it was. I was informed today by Travis, our head of maintenance that a couple of packages had arrived for me. It should be my uniform, which is good as I am supposed to be in uniform and working in the Bourgeois house tomorrow. Hopefully it will fit.

Friday, June 19th, 2015
Fort Union Rendezvous
I woke early this morning to get showered. Our wonderful maintenance staff had brought the packages I had received yesterday up to the Fort for me. Inside I found a complete uniform and parts of two more. Miraculously everything fit. It may seem different or weird to some, but I felt so proud to be able to wear my NPS Park Ranger uniform. Putting on my NPS straw ranger hat was the icing on the cake. Fred, one of our rangers loaned me the use of one of his NPS badges for the weekend until I would be issued a set next week.

We had a number of people cycle through the bourgeois house today. I answered a LOT of questions. 

At one point I was spelled by Loren and went out to check on how things were going in the camp. Things appeared to be going well. I was able to stop in and make contact with each of our vendors and introduce myself. 

My rounds in the camp complete I stopped in to see Mark and Charlotte. Mark showed me my rifle in his portable work vise and walked me through the state of things. Long story short, the establishment we gotten the parts from, a reputable outfit, had some misleading information about the parts for the rifle. Everything was high quality, however, not all of it was as it should have been for the type of rifle it was. This was not Mark’s fault. I could tell he felt poorly about the situation. While the establishment may have failed us, I know that Mark’s craftsmanship will not. I know it will be a finely made, dependable rifle that I will be honored to carry with me and use wherever I may make my camp.

I went with Lisa to inspect a vendor’s tent. The gentleman was an odd “cat” of different “hats”, a reference only some will understand.

Stopping in to see Charlotte I found a nice box for Kim made by Mark, a case bottle and a better vent pick. I let Charlotte know I’d stop by later to talk with her about a clothing project for me for next year.

I took the box to our camp where Kim was at. She was pleased.

Back in the bourgeois house we contented with another onslaught of visitors. Many questions. There were some very interesting visitors with great questions and then there were others. One particular gentleman kept talking and talking and whenever I’d attempt to speak to other visitors he dragged back into the conversation. Kim came in with lunch for me and tried to intervene but to no avail.

We’d been monitoring the weather all day via satellite imagery and had been concerned about a storm cell making its way toward the fort. As the cell came closer it grew in intensity. We made the decision to inform the camp that it was time to “baton down the hatches.” I was dispatched to the camp to inform them of the situation and assist with preparations. It was impressive to see how the living historians helped each other attach new guy lines and drive new stakes to secure their tents. If someone was short of something someone else quickly offered up extra stakes or rope they had.

Satellite imagery went purple and we decided it was time to move everyone into the fort

for safety. Most people came, some decided to ride out the storm in camp. Tod brought his horses in from the outside corral and put them in one of the small corrals that was built into the fort’s walls. Some of the living historians went into the trade house and many ended up inside the bourgeois house. The kids sat on the floor in the main area playing games while Jeff played guitar and sang. We kept observing the storm from the upstairs level and from the covered porch. 

Hail. Some marble size and quickly dwindled into pea size. We watched a horrendous wind move the tipi in the courtyard, pulling up most of the stakes holding the edges down. The only thing that kept it from completely blowing over was the rope that ran from the top of the poles to the two long stakes pounded in at criss-cross angles. In the aftermath amazingly, only two tents had gone down during the storm outside the walls. The rest stood. No major damage done. Everything was soaked, but nothing ruined.

Ben, Amanda and myself set to putting up tall hitching posts made of tripods with tipi poles set horizontally across them for people to dry out their soaked blankets and ground cloths. 

Tonight was our camp meeting where we all sat down together and went over the

Photo by Lyla Kraft

guidelines and expectations for the remainder of rendezvous. Andy, our superintendent welcomed the camp; Lisa one of our rangers and volunteer coordinator spoke about what paperwork still needed to be completed; Brandon, one of our Fort Union Muzzleloaders and this year’s bourgeois talked a little about the events taking place tomorrow; and I, as the assistant bourgeois said hi to everyone as well. As an EMT I was going to be the contact person in the event of a medical or trauma scenario. To this point, aside from slivers in the camp kids’ fingers and toes, we’ve had no major incidents. Hopefully that will be the case for the remainder of rendezvous.

Kim K. arrived today and will be camping per usual with Mark and Charlotte.

Kim (my Kim) was a bit beside herself this evening, which was understandable as the interior of our tent was soaked. She’d gotten enough blankets dried on the hitching posts to keep us all warm tonight and had gotten the ground cloths dried as well. Brandon shared his fire with us and I took care of making supper, a stew, while Kim attended to Garrick and just sat and relaxed for a bit. The Maddens stopped by and shared some dessert with us that helped lighten Kim’s spirits. I was able to arrange for another barrier between our ground cloth and the mud. We were able to stop by Mark and Charlotte’s camp and share some shrub with them, Rod and Kim K. It was good to spend some time with them this evening.

We were both exhausted by the time we retired for the evening.

Back in period clothes for tomorrow.  

Saturday, June 20th, 2015
Fort Union Rendezvous
Slept well.

Today I roamed between the camp and the inside of the fort. I spelled Loren and Fred some in the bourgeois house with all the people we had coming through, which was many more than yesterday.

I went into the clerk office side of the trade house to snap a picture of the painting of Denig and ended up with several accidental tour groups, talking to them about how Kurz’s painting of the Indians got him into trouble down river when some were dying of small pox, Denig, and Kurz’s painting of Natoh. It was unexpected but was a fun little talk to share with the visitors none the less. 

Was able to talk with Charlotte about putting together a frock coat that matches what Denig is wearing in the painting of the trade room, a new shirt and a pair of pants to wear as bourgeois next year. She agreed and was relieved that I wouldn’t be needing them until next year’s rendezvous. She said she’ll have them ready early enough so that any final alterations can be made before rendezvous. I’m very excited about the new bourgeois clothing. Tonight I will be wearing boots I was able to procure from Brandon, my regular brown pants, blue check shirt, red scarf, brown wool vest and black top hat. A bit hodge-podge but the best I have as assistant bourgeois. 

Got a knife from Bob S. today that I will use with my 6th Infantry kit at Fort Buford.

I was able to sit in on Jim Hardee’s talk today about Nathaniel Wyeth. I enjoyed it. Learned something new about the “Grand Tetons”. Mike Casler was here for the talk as well and shared with me about a few articles he’s been working on that are going to be published soon along with some interesting information about Fort Floyd.

Around 4pm today Brandon and I went around and met with everyone in camp. As the

assistant bourgeois it was my job to notate everyone in camp in the book. The nice thing about this honorary position is that you get to meet everyone and have a chance to find out who everyone is. It took about two hours. When we completed the task we made slips with the names of all the adults for tonight’s drawings before the dance. The big prize is the special chief’s blanket that has been nicknamed “The Fort Union Blanket.”

Brandon and I returned to the camp famished. Tonight was the night that there is a huge camp stew prepared by Tim S. (Swede). The Lisenbees made homemade rolls and possibly some huge round loaves of bread. I inhaled two bowls of stew and three of the large rolls.

Photo by Lyla Kraft

After supper we all convened in the courtyard for the drawings. Brandon and I did some welcoming announcements and thank yous to everyone. We drew the names out of my new Tim Bender top hat. We had my son Garrick help us by having him take the prizes to the people who won them. It was a pretty fun time with joking, laughter and music. 

During the dance I ended up giving some special Bourgeois House tours to about a dozen people or so. As like last year the music moved from the courtyard to the camp.

I was able to go to the six main camps and share some shrub with everyone. Kim’s raspberry shrub was a hit. 

I was able to spend some time at the Madden for a while. Terry offered me a drink and Marcia gave me a generous portion of apple crisp. We shared some good laughs and I really enjoyed the company. It was good to spend some time with them. This year I hadn’t gotten much of an opportunity to spend much time in anyone’s camp. 

Back at our camp we had Ben and Amanda, Ross, Paul, Mark and Charlotte, Brandon, Kris, Mike and Lisa, Kim K. and Rod and Briana. Was able to spend some time in good conversation, enjoying everyone’s company. 

The time finally came to retire for the evening. Today was a good day.

Sunday, June 21st,2015
Fort Union Rendezvous
Today my 1790s contract rifle went with me wherever I went. 

Spent most of the morning between the bourgeois house and the courtyard talking to visitors. Was able to catch Rod’s demo about horse use and tack of the fur trade. It was a good presentation. Tod had his horses there during the presentation as well. There was a good number of people who attended it. I was able to snag a copy of Rod’s notes, complete with excerpts from the different inventories.

Got to see Chris Floyd’s presentation as Hugh Glass. He did a fantastic job. He was

able to paint scenes in your mind with the words he spoke that gave the listener a better idea of just how bad it must have been for Glass to continue on after the bear attack.

Helped Kim get the rest of our gear tore down and packed into the van.

We had more incoming weather so I was able to help out some of the folks in camp who were tearing down, including the Morains and the Luchts.

After checking in with Loren, Kim and the kids and I departed midafternoon. It had been four long, but very good, days of rendezvous at Fort Union. It was different experiencing it as both a living historian and as a park ranger. Not bad, just different. I am looking forward to having a slower day tomorrow where we unpack, air out the blankets and canvas, do laundry and get everything put back into order. 

I look forward to Labor Day weekend where I will see many of our friends again and help the visitors experience life at Fort Union.

-- Leifer

2015 April Game Day Weekend

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from a historic game day weekend in April of 2015 at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. This was one of a series of monthly game days at the Fort.

Friday, April 24^th, 2015
2015 April Game Day Weekend

The girls and I arrived to the fort this evening and found Paul and Dave F. already there, their camp already made. Brandon arrived shortly after. With some assistance we got our camp made

and I got supper for the girls. It was good to be here. The evening meal consisted of meat, cheese and hard crackers.

Brandon arrived. He would be residing in the carpenter’s shack. The rest of the evening was spent in Paul’s tent, playing cribbage, enjoying some libations together, getting to know Ross, one of our new park staff, and just shooting the breeze.

Due to the long day I retired earlier than I normally do on an outing like this. Brynja was complaining about her ear and ended up snuggling in with me.

Saturday, April 25^th, 2015
2015 April Game Day Weekend
The night passed without major incident. Brynja did fidget throughout the night. Breakfast was made and Kim arrived to the fort shortly thereafter with Garrick.

Was able to spend time in the blacksmith shop today. Paul helped me cut a bunch of pieces of round stock and I made jig to help make some consistent chain links. I spent several hours working on forge welding the links. Still working on my technique. They aren’t the way I want them to be yet, however, they are greatly improved compared to the forge welding I was doing last year. I will have to finish up this chain later on. As I have all the stock cut for this project it will make things go more quickly later on.

The Signe, Brynja and Garrick wanted to take Paul, Brandon and me on a hike. So we went on a

hike. They would run ahead for a while and then come back as we walked along the trail. We were hiking along the edge of the hill and looking down to the river bottoms below. Depending on high the water would be later on we found a few possible locations to camp at some later time. The kids had a great time and it was a good time to just enjoy the imagery around us and talk. On the way back we paused at the pit saw that was used to cut large logs. Garrick entertain Paul and I with a story. Paul ended up carrying Garrick the rest of the way back into the fort.

Drizzle. It drizzled softly outside so we stayed mostly in the trade house, stoking the fire. Kim had brought along her 1830s coffee pot so I pulled aside a small pile of coals onto the hearth stones and she made some tea. It felt good on a cool drizzly evening like this. At this point Taylor and Sawyer had arrived as well. We enjoyed the rest of the evening playing cribbage and talking.

We put the kids down for the evening and enjoyed another hour or so talking to the light of the fire in the hearth of the trade house until retiring for the evening.

Sunday, April 26^th, 2015
2015 April Game Day Weekend
The night passed without incident. Kim made baked oatmeal at the hearth in the trade house. It’s one of my favorite meals.

We began to prepare our tent some for packing up later in the afternoon.

No time spent in the forge.

More of the crew arrived, including Ben, Amanda and Haans. Cribbage and draughts ensued.

For lunch Signe and Brynja helped Kim make two boiled “fig” puddings. Kim used raisins instead. They turned out very good.

A group of visitors wanted to get a picture of us in front of the Bourgeois house, so stood for a photo.

Shortly after we helped each other pack up our camps and headed out. It wasn’t a long weekend and the weather limited our activity somewhat, but it was a good weekend. We got to spend it together as a family with our friends.

-- Leifer

2014 Engage's Christmas

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from Engage’s Christmas in December of 2014. Photos courtesy of Rod Lassey.

Engages Christmas, Fort Union
Friday, December 5, 2014

     The sun was completely down by the time my daughter Brynja and I made it to the fort. The was a good bit of snow on the ground. Inside the walls we were greeted by Dave Finders and Paul Bauer. This evening we would be residing in Paul’s tent.
     I layed down the oilcloth where I would be putting our bedding. Much of the snow had been cleared, however, I’d rather not take any chances with dampness during the winter. In my usually fashion I spread out my canvas groundcloth, the blankets and then folder the other half of the ground cloth over the bedding.
     I set to making a small stew in my lidded copper kettle for Brynja and myself, who was now sitting with Paul and Dave, keeping us all entertained. She asked Paul if we could have a “lunch party” tomorrow where we would make lunch for everyone. Paul said yes.
     Rod popped his head in a bit later. He had secured his gear on his sledge and hiked into the site with it. He would be residing in the clerks office tonight. He’d also brought a green buffalo hide for me. I’ll need to stretch, flesh and dry it. I’ve decided I’m going to send it off to a tannery to be tanned rather than attempt to brain tan it.
     Brandon arrived later on. He would be staying in the tent tonight with us as well.
     The moon was so bright outside tonight with the snow on the ground that it was as bright as it is during late afternoon.
     The stew was good. I made us some Mexican chocolate as well for us. On cold nights like this it is comforting to have a hot meal and something warm to drink.
     With us all in the tent we spent  a good deal of time in conversation and laughter passing a few bottles around that several of us had  brought. Everyone approved of the shrub I’d made.
     Finally it was time to turn in for the evening. Bryn and I snuggled in to the beading for the night and went to sleep.

Engages Christmas, Fort Union
Friday, December 5, 2014

     I woke up during the night to find Dave trying to get the fire going in Paul’s stove.

Together we got the fire up and going again in short order.
     When we got up for the day I started to get our breakfast going. Some bread, cheese, and because Brynja was along, bacon, who was making her way around the tent pilfering food from everyone. She really does get spoiled out here.
     As the morning went on Ranger MacVaugh arrived along with Saywer and Ranger Carr.
     We had a surprising number of visitors at the Fort today for all the snow and low temps we had. It is good to see people still visiting the fort in the winter.
     Rod had gone on a hike around the fort. He’d found side of at least 5 moose and a number of coyotes…evidence that hadn’t been there yesterday. It’s good to see that moose are in the area.
     Ben and Amanda made it out during the afternoon. They are newer members to FUMLA and are fun.
     When it was time to get the clerk’s office to start warming up for the Engage’s Christmas meal we started to haul wood into the office. Sawyer and I took a couple 5 foot lengths of broken teepee poles and had Brandon load wood onto them. We and others made several trips into the office with wood.
     We played cribbage in the clerk’s office while keeping watch of the fire. Cribbage is one of my favorite games. I will always think of our Muzzleloaders when I play cribbage as it was during my first winter camp at Rod’s cabin that they taught me how to play it. Though I didn’t know it at the time, that first game at my first FUMLA Winter Camp would begin to forge lasting friendships.

     Before the rest of the crew began to arrive for the meal I headed into the Bourgeois house where I had left my guitar and did one final practice of my music for the evening. Only one piece was from outside of Fort Union’s time frame, “Deck The Halls” the first publication of which was 1881.
     The meal was great as always. Some of the food included: Ham, turkey, potatoes, squash, dressing, deer heart and beef tongue. Before Kim, the kids and I left for home I played and sang the music with everyone. I tried to combine humor and history for each piece. I don’t think I heard anyone say “boo”…
     Merry Christmas my fellow Engages of Fort Union.  See you in the New Year.

-- Leifer

First Overnight Camp With My Daughters

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from an overnighter I did with my daughters in October, 2014

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014
FIRST DADDY/DAUGHTER OVERNIGHTER – FT. UNION
     The girls, Signe & Brynja, & I finished packing after school & then headed out to Fort Union. This is the first overnighter that the girls & I have done together. Tommorrow I will be portraying a fort hunter for a group of Boys Scouts coming down from Minot, ND. As I understand there will be four or five stations they will go through. The girls & my brother Haans will be assisting me when we talk to the boys about Indian Sign Language.

     When the girls & I arrived tonight the sun was starting to set so we had to hurry. One of the hand carts our local muzzleloader club built was brought up to the fort to use at my hunter camp demo. The girls & I loaded our gear into the cart & brought it into the fort over by the carpenters shack. Our camp consisted of ground cloths, our blankets all together & a ground cloth on top of us. Supper was to be a small stew of meat & potatoes but I need to quickly make a fire. When I opened my fire kit I realized my error. I had onlyl two small pieces of char cloth left. I had intended several times over the past month to make more, but I never did. So much for being prepared. I tried my darndest to get some brome grass to catch flame, but to no avail. I think it could have been too damp. Maybe I just choked. Either way, I had fail to start the fire with flint & steel & had failed in front of my daughters.
     Fortunately I had a small match safe inside of our small lantern & quickly got a fire going. While we waited for the stew to come to a boil I read to the girls from a book I found in the back of the library work room at school that was no longer a part of the regular inventory. It was called “Jerry the Muskrat”. Before I new it we had been reading for over forty minutes.
     The girls & I wolfed down the stew as it was now past nine in the evening. After we finished eating

we cleaned all our cookware & got water for coffee tomorrow morning.
     The moon & stars were bright tonight & we talked for awhile. The girls & I saw a meteor, which they were fascinated by & lead to a discussion on wishing on falling stars. We talked about coyotes & how they can’t climb the fort’s walls, how tall the walls were & how they want me to take them bird hunting. They asked me an onslaught of questions & were then finally ready for bed, which was good because I was rapidly running out of words. We crawled into the bedding & lay down to sleep. The girls were out in short order. The was a good evening. I really enjoyed the good one on one time away from distractions with the girls. They’re troopers for doing this with me. Hope it doesn’t get too cold for them tonight.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2014
FIRST DADDY/DAUGHTER OVERNIGHTER – FT. UNION
     Lastnight got down to 34 deg. F & stayed about 72 deg. F under all the blankets after we readjusted things in the middle of the night. We ended up snuggling close to each other, me, Signe in the middle & Brynja on the other end, all sharing the blankets. I also tucked the top ground cloth under our feet & around us. After it was tucked under it made a big difference because it kept the wind from entering through the blankets & helped keep heat in. The girls did great. We were up & going before staff arrived.
     We first set to roasting coffee beans in a small pan & I then ground them in the pan with the back of my axe head. I dumped them into the kettle & set it over the fire. I was able to get a fire going from the few coals that remained from lastnight’s fire. We slept with our feet under the cart.

     About the time I had a well established fire going, Ranger Carr, Taylor, Kris & my brother Haans arrived in short order, followed by Sawyer & Ranger Sanden. The girls talked Kris into reading them more from “Jerry the Muskrat” while I began to fry up our bacon for our breakfast of bacon cheese & flat bread. We always have to have bacon now since they started to learn Indian Sign Language. Dave F & Mike arrived as well.
     Taylor was able to use the fire for his cooking demo station. He made cow tongue & collared beef. Both were very good.
     We made a second fire, where I had my hunter camp set up to roast “hump ribs”, “buffalo stew” & actual buffalo meat.
     When the scouts arrived at my station we talked about the duties & benefits of being a fort hunter, how they hunted buffalo & ways they cooked it. We had the boys prepare willow branches to roast the ribs. Then one by one they each got to roast a piece of the real buffalo meat. The Scout leaders really

enjoyed that. From comments we got later that was their favorite part of the hunter camp. We also showed them how to roast coffee beans, grind them & make coffee & worked with them on short phrases in Indian Sign Language & also how to sign the Scout Oath. When their time at the fort was done they thanked us all for putting on today’s stations for them. Some of them took pictures with us & of me & my girls.
     When it was all done Taylor & I set up a buffet line on the wooden bar for all the staff & volunteers

with food we’d prepared today. If anyone went hungry it was their own fault. Kim & Garrick made it out & got to eat with us.
     Even though it was a short outing I really enjoyed the time with my girls. I hope this is the beginning of many more daddy/daughter campouts.
--Leifer

2014 Fort Union Living History Weekend

The following is transcribed from my field journal. There are typos, misspellings and editings as there would be for transcriptions of other period journals. This entry is from the 2014 Fort Living History Weekend.

"2014 Fort Union Living History WeekendFriday, August 29, 2014

     Kim, the kids and I arrived at Fort Union three hours after school was done today. At the kids’ request we set up camp in between to “uncle” Paul’s camp and Keeta and Gailen’s camp. The kids helped us unpack everything then Kim and I got our main tent set up with the kid’s small tent attached the back of it. When we were done we headed into the fort to the kitchen area for supper. We found out that several of our friends who were planning on being here this weekend were unable to attend.
     After the kids went down for the evening we sat and talked with friends. We brought out a bottle of our recently made schrub and Dave F. brought out some that he and Arlene had made. Paul also shared a beverage. It was a fairly quiet evening and the sky was clear. I enjoyed hanging back at the porch to the bourgeois house and just listening to the sound of campfire, people talking and the sounds of nature from above and outside of the fort walls. The stars were very brilliant tonight. Went back and spent time with the group after enjoying my surroundings.

2014 Fort Union Living History Weekend
Saturday, August 30, 2014

     Sleep was interrupted twice lastnight. When a train went by the fort it woke up and

scared Garrick who high-taled it out of his tent and straight into my head. He dropped down and began to bore his way between me and the blankets. I was able to get him calmed down, snuggled up next to me and covered up.  Later on I heard some rustling. I thought it was Garrick, who had apparently crawled out from under the blanket, gone back into his tent and grabbed his blanket and then laid back down next to me. I pulled my tuque up so I could see with my blurry vision to get Garrick to stop moving. Garrick was fast asleep. I continued to listen and was able to figure out that the sound was coming from the wooden box by the door to the tent.
     I woke Kim up to find out where the match safe and been placed and then shined the light on the area of the box. Two black eyes from inside the box stared back at me. Kim wasn’t exuberant about this new found information. Handing her the light I pulled the wiping stick out of my 1790s contract rifle and began to pull items out of the box. I moved it closer to the door of the tent and tilted the box over. The mouse started to run out of the tent and then broke hard right along the front of the tent, pulled another hard right and started running along the side wall. I quickly swiped down with my wiping stick, landing the blow just inches in front of the beedy-eyed fiend. The mouse quickly back tracked along the wall, the front of the tent and then out the door.
     I inspected the contents of the box. I half block of cheese had not been put into one of the lidded nesting kettles when we put everything inside the tent. I tossed it out the door to take care of it in the morning. I put my wiping stick back into the barrel of the flinter, almost tripped over Garrick and then curled back up under the blankets to go back to sleep.
     Breakfast this morning was baked oatmeal. I know there were other items as well, but

all I remember is the baked oatmeal. It is one of my favorites. Had tea with my breakfast. The girls learned how to wash, rinse and dry our tinware and utinsels. They even helped wipe down the engages table.
     After breakfast I worked on my Indian Sign Language. I used a set of flashcards along with my copy of Tompkins. Badger and Rod observed. Others who were they asked me what different signs were. I shared the ones I knew and looked up the ones I didn’t. About ten or so of us were in on the fun, with Brynja participating as well. Throughout the day I would work on my sign language for twenty or so minutes at a time. Badger would offer suggestions and tips for making it logical and Rod would be following along too.

     Until the rain came today my rifle was with me wherever I went. Spent time in discussion with Mark Morain and Kim Koenig at their camp within the walls. They have a great trade item display during this event each year and let me take pictures. Mark had muskrat spear end and let me handle it. I now have a few ideas of how to make one in the blacksmith shop. My previous two attempts have been failures.
     Due to the weather there was a possibility that the Last Bell tours was going to be cancelled tonight, but they decided to still do them anyways. This year it’s about Paliser’s time at the fort during 1847 and is comprised of five different stations. I was assigned to the first station where the engages are looking back at the hard winter when everyone got sick, something like mumps, and Denig and Paliser were the only ones who didn’t get sick. Denig did some doctoring on the employees and as all the fort hunters were sick Paliser was the only one who could go hunting to provide food for the fort. Guy, our fort blacksmith, Collette, one of our interp rangers and myself lead our group at the first station. I thought everyone did a good job. After the tours were over and all the visitors left we enjoyed pie and sarsaparilla, and more shrub. Went to bed shortly after.

2014 Fort Union Living History Weekend
Sunday, August 31, 2014

     Was visited again by the mouse during the night. This time the culprit was a completely sealed small summer sausage. Kim would not let me shoot the mouse.
     After breakfast I sat on the porch to the bourgeois house and continued working on my sign language. Bryn, for a kindergartener, is very interested in Indian Sign Language. She would flip the cards and do the signs with me. Badger and Rod with there with us and were doing the signs as well. I was able to pass off on my Indian Sign Language! Badger and Rod were both happy with the progress I had made. Badger suggested to me that just because I had fulfilled the requirement that I should not stop working on my sign. It would benefit me to keep working on and using it. Rod and Badger have been a good encouragement as have the rest of my fellow FUMLA friends. It looks as though we’ve sparked some interest in this skill.
     Today we began to build the second hand cart for the fort. We built the first one last

year during Labor Day weekend. I was able to help some and was then called to the blacksmith shop. I was able to help Taylor with a candlestick holder project. He had made one yesterday and had given it to Kim. Taylor is a hard working high school guy who much more proficient in the blacksmith shop than myself. Paul offered suggestions as we worked. One of his projects today was to make a spoon. I was able to talk to him later today and he was fairly happy with his first attempt. Tomorrow he plans to make another one. My project was to make a pair of hooks for attaching to the ridgepole of our tent to be able to hang my rifle from. This would keep it off the ground, not someplace the kids might bump into it, but yet still be accessible to be able to use should the need arise. I have already make what I call “nail hooks” that are tapped in to the vertical poles and ridgepole to hang a lantern from and my shooting pouch and powder horn. I will wrap the hook ends in leather to protect my rifle. The other end was pounded into a flatter tear drop

shape and I punched a square hole into the ends to allow a square cut nail to pass through. I let the ends get a bit too hot. Aside from my displeasure with the final appearance of the teardrop ends, they are still fully functional and will hold the weight of my rifle. My motto in a number of situations has always been “Function over Form.” However, if I can have function and form, that is most desireable.

     The wind picked up and started to wreak havoc on the different flies that had been set up in the fort walls. The guys working on the hand cart were holding down ropes, tightening and trying to straiten out the fly they had been working under. Taylor, Kim, Kris and myself tried to do likewise with the fly over the blacksmith shop. A fair amount of particulate was getting kicked up into the air and into my eyes. I was trying my darndest to push and pull on the poles and help retighten the ropes, but it was getting increasingly difficult to stay focused due to the irritation in my eyes. I was beginning to get down right ornery and was trying to not let my frustration come out towards anyone. When we finally got the fly readjusted I grabbed my gear and high tailed it to the bathroom. My eyes were bloodshot and were in rough shape. I rinsed them well and kept bathing them with eye drops. Finally the irritation began to subside. Ranger Yellowbird commented to me that it caused him pain just to look at my eyes.
     Tonight was the night that we were issued rations. We got some meat, beans, barley, carrots, potatoes and some small onions. We could prepare them however we liked. So I made our family a stew. Paul offered us the option of cooking over his fire and we accepted. Kim pulled out her nesting kettle set and we filled the largest one with water. We would use it to scoop water out of with a tin cup to pour into another kettle for the stew and to scoop water out to drink. Taylor and I cut up the meat, the potatoes, onions and carrots. Kim had been soaking the beans in a smaller kettle earlier today. Into the kettle everything went along with a mix of spices that I always keep on hand.
     While the stew was cooking over the fire, Rod came up an enthusiastic smile on his face

and signed to me. “AFTER-YOU-EAT-YOU-ME -RIFLE-FIRE” I responded with “Absolutely! Uh…I better check.” We both looked at Kim and she said that it would be  alright. The stew tasted great and as always it was a pleasure to eat in the company of friends in Paul’s camp.
     After supper I grabbed my pouch and horn and my rifle from its hooks on the ridgepole of the tent and met up with the rest of the guys. From the distance we were shooting was able to hit a couple of times. I was happy with my rifle’s performance. I still need to spend more time with it, but I’m feeling pretty comfortable with it. The group consisted of Taylor, Rod, Kim Koenig and Mark Morain. Taylor doesn’t have a rifle yet and Rod offered to let him shoot his Derringer double trigger rifle. I’ve shot Rod’s rifle before and it is a fine work of craftsmanship, put together by Mark Morain. Mark is making me an English Pattern J. Henry rifle. Taylor hit his target every time. Well done kid.
     We did have a situation where a ball needed to be pulled. I happened to have my ball puller in my pouch so we were able to get it moved partway up the barrel before the screw dislodged from the ball. Some powder was pushed into the barrel through the flash hole. The rifle was then primed and fired. We saw flame come out of the barrel. I think there was enough force behind the ball when it came out of the rifle that it could have knocked a prairie dog unconscious.  Despite the fact that a member of our group had this unfortunate experience happen, it was good to be around to see ways to take care of having a dry ball down the barrel. I feel fairly confident that I could fix the problem if I experienced it in the field. For that I am grateful. I will now always keep a ballpuller in my pouch. This is a way I can help contribute to the benefit of whatever party I am with.
     Kim K. and I both shoot a .54 caliber rifle. We talked about how some barrels seem a bit

snugger than others and our trial and errors as we tried different size ball. I started with .535, but had to wipe the barrel between each shot to comfortable load the next ball. I have since then been using .526 and only have to wipe the barrel every several shots or so. I still only use the bigger wiping stick that I keep in the barrel because I’m always a bit worried about the rifles wiping stick snapping on me. Kim K. said he has experience the same thing and now used .520 ball and no longer has any issue. I will try this later on. If I find this works well for me I will order a new ball mould. My .526 ball mould is made by Larry Callahan. I should have no problem selling this mould to help get a different one if needed.
     We met up back in the trade room where Mark had been cooking his and Kim K. supper. The room was illuminated only by a few candles and the coals from the hearth.  Rod cleaned his rifle and pulled out his bottle of shrub. He didn’t have the number of oranges on hand that he usually used so he substituted in some tangerines. It was a nice shrub! When the Libby boys (Mark and Kim K.) were done with their dinner we joined the rest of the crew outside of the carpenter shack. Bottles were passed around the group to be enjoyed by everyone. Shrub and a few other drinks. All told, there were five different varieties of shrub that were enjoyed this evening. Shrub was brought by us, Rod, Kim K., Mark and Dave F. The joke around the fire whenever you were handed another bottle was “Oh look! More schrub!”
     Kim gave me a hug and said to enjoy the rest of the evening and she retired back to our camp. I stay with the group talking as people slowly trickled back to their camps for the evening. What an ambience it is, standing inside the fort walls, a fire dwindling, stars out, the rustle of leaves, talking to friends about days long past, before our time, in this historic place. Moments like this I would not trade for anything. I wish I could have experienced evenings like this while Kurz and Denig discussed topics on the porch or balcony of the bourgeois house.
   A book was suggested to me that I will order when I get back home. “West of the Revolution.” Another one, historical fiction, that is part of a series is called “The Frontiersman” part of the “Winning of America” series.
     We talked about winter camps, keeping warm, bedding, gear, the lives of men we’ve read about, the experiences we’ve had as we’ve tried to experience the lives of these me, research, and the places of the different subsets within this lifestyle: muzzleloaders, buckskinners, reenactors/living historians &tc. I hope to make it to the western end of the great state of Montana to camp with these brothers. This is something I should do. It is good to learn and experience things from others you know. As much as I love this area, my brothers in the western side of our great state have actual mountains instead of badlands! Not that mountains are better, but it would be nice to experience them. With regret, but boosted excitement, I as well retired for the evening.

2014 Fort Union Living History Weekend
Monday, September 1, 2014

     We got up earlier today and headed to the kitchen area to help out where we could. This is the last meal we would share with each other for some time. Bryn had me pull out the Indian Sign Language cards again during breakfast and review some more. She’s doing a wonderful job of catching on. She asked if we could do them again after we got home.
     When the Libby boys, Mike, Mark and Kim K. were ready to head out they came back to the kitchen area and said goodbyes. I look forward to staying in communication with these men. Kim doesn’t use the computer much, so I’ll get to continue the practice of hand-written letters, which, I believe, is a dying art.

     Kim and I helped out with dishes and with packing the boxes of the cooking equipment. It took us a while, but we were able to get everything to fix in the wood boxes, even with the addition of new gear. We were rather proud of ourselves. I helped Gailen move the heavy boxes into the northwest bastion where they would stay until next year.
     While Kim and I tore down our camp, the girls and Garrick played with Ranger Boothman’s daughters. I guess visitors kept taking pictures of the gaggle of kids in period attire. Kim and I were surprised at how much easier it was to pack things up with the kids being occupied. When we were finished we made our rounds and said goodbye to the few remaining muzzleloaders at the fort. When we were finished we walked back to our camp area and helped Paul load his tent and some gear before the rain came. We then said goodbye and loaded the last of our gear and left the fort, behind us, leaving 1851 and returning to 2014.
     When I’m by myself it doesn’t take all that long to pack. I’ve been paring things down more and more. With the whole family, we bring more gear and it takes more time. Kim said to me on our way out, “You know, I’ve asked myself as we’re loading gear at the end of an event, which can be a lot of work, if it’s actually worth it. I think it is.” You’re right, dear. It’s totally worth it.

-- Leifer"