Experiencing the Mountain Man

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 238, 5 April 1988, Page 9

Experiencing the

Mountain Man

By

Vera

Donnelly

Whai some people do for fun ...

To my utter amazement I recently spent eight fun-filled days in an old army bell tent, at the highest point on the desert road, with only cold running water and few modern conveniences. I attended the Moun- l tain Man shoot with J my mate, Dave Fitzwa- j ter, whose idea it was f to initiate the event six summers ago, and his enthusiasm drew me in. j 'Six Cross Camp' is j on the northern-most '! area of army land, \ 20km from Waiouru, . where the weather is extreme - scorching by day in summer and very cold at night. The flat j camp area borders a j crystal clear stream that comes down from the J bush clad valley and the water was icy cold and numbing to stand in - even on the hottest days. The shoot started on Boxing Day and I arrived that evening amidst bleak rain to find Six Cross camp marked by the o n e patch of clear blue sky and a large rainbow spanning it. G o o d omens were about. From the 27th onwards the weather remained clear and beautifully fine. Primitive area First impressions were of.a very ordinary camp with tents and cars, but further up the valley in the 'primitive' area stood a huge decorated Indian teepee, straight out of the wild west. Smoke curled from the vent and I have a vivid memory of 20 children inside sitting crosslegged around the fire toasting marshmallows, that teepee was huge. A big marquee alongside the servery hatch of the cookhouse was the 'Passing Wind Saloon' which was the centre for whole family entertainment. First night, children seemed to crawl out of nowhere - 1 counted 40 kids on a quick tally and almost as many dogs. There were a few memorable dog fights, but the children were well behaved and involved, taking part in most activities alongside the adults. Capers at the saloon included an auction, meals, a bar, musicians and a singalong, as well as the inevitable arm-wrestling, all in good fun and friendliness. I met lots of fascinating people from all walks of life; teachers, engineers, freezing workers, nurses, electricians, during those

nights in the bar and they came from all around the world. On the first morning I emerged to find the world transformed. The sun had banished the rain and a whole new race and age of people had assembled. Men, women and children were appearing from all sides, dressed in buckskin suits, c a 1 i c o dresses, moccasins, beaded shirts and blanket coats. Some wore Confederate uniforms or a mixture of all the above. Australian colonials featured wide brimmed felt hats and they all appeared s o suited and comfortable in their era. One man told me that if it wasn't for his mountain man stint every year he'd go "up the wall". The way relaxation moved over the camp as people got into their gear was so obvious. Buckskins look hot and sticky in that sun and dust, but because of their construction, being knotted together front and back every six inches, it has a natural ventilation and yet protects from the sun. A coon skin hat's 'tail' protects the neck from sunburn - buckskinners did not follow the lead of the Indian dress for nothing! As well as the fascination of clothing, the paraphernalia of the black powder shooter includes powder horns and measures, cap holders, knives and various tools for ramming the lead ball etc. Much of these hand crafted in natural materials and are a delight to study - cow horn, deer antler, leather, carved wood and some-

times forged or moulded from metal. Despite my fear of guns I also fell in love with the beautifully restored and treasured rifles, all muzzle loaders and including flintlocks and percussion rifles, from Enfields to Kentuckys and the popular Hawkens. Their long lines were quite beautiful and the detailing on some of the stocks was a joy in itself. I changed a lot of my negative concepts about firearms as I quickly saw the dedication and involvement these people have for

authentic detail and their concern for helping each other with information and ideas. Having watched 'Fitz's' total involvement in the pioneer/mountain man/Indian lore and history has allowed me to value the integrity of that creative and self-sufficient era. This is a totally different shooting event - one that cannot easily be defined as 'sport' or 'hobby', it's a life style. Ideas trading Over 100 people entered shoots, but alongside those were men, women and children who traded ideas and shared techniques for everything from keeping the fire going to making a mobile hangi. The air of cooperation and sharing was very strong, with shooters supplying each other with equipment in order to have them participate in an event. Most men seemed to have made not only their own clothing, from shoes upwards, but also knives, carved tomahawks, cooking requirements, tents and teepees and some of the exceptional artisans amongst this group had even produced their own rifles from scratch. An absolute insistence on strict safety precautions was always uppermost and I saw

many occasions where children were being helped to learn the correct and safe manner of trying things out. Breaches of safety would have meant disqualification from that event, or froqi the whole shoot. For little expense, whole families can easily 'holiday' at an event like this, where shooting is only one aspect of proceedings. Every evening either tomahawk or knife throwing competitions were held, including the new spear throwing event, and children were high up the prize winners' lists. These were 'blanket events', where entrants put an article on a blanket as 'wampum' - usually hand made items, small artefacts or useful mountain man gear, with the winner taking first pick, run-ner-up second pick etc. I was the recipient of a very nice hand made knife. Many women shoot and most said they had similar early experiences of forbidding firearms in their homes etc, until they were tempted into the creT ativity and fun of making gear and becoming part of the lifestyle. There were generally two shooting events each day, while the rest of the time people prepared food, talked buckskinning 'shop', walked in the bush, reTurnp. 13

Mountain man

From p. 9 Food always figured large in energy output. Everywhere were ingenious cooking arrangements. Holes dug in banks, hot plates, tripods and wonderfully forged spits and hooks with an endless array of dishes emerging. Toward the end of the meet a trading post was set up and some wonderful hand crafted gear was for sale. Leather pieces and hides, firelighting kits, honey, shoes, beads, beading pieces, shirts, rifles, barrels, stocks and rifle parts, hats, mats and boots were all on offer.

By that time I had decided beading was my thing and I also set eyes on two bullock tails for making looped and whipped hair locks, that are used as decoration on buckskin and Indian clothing. Before we had packed up and headed off into the sunset I had resolved to make a beaded and fringed buckskin dress and the challenge of loading and firing the muzzle loader is still hanging there before me. The lure of this creative lifestyle is overwhelming, I'll be back. For any family who is

remotely interested, organise yourself for next year, as there is always something for everyone to be amazed and delighted by. Women will find that, despite the masculine title of the event, it offers us a lot - and anyway, becoming adept at tomahawk throwing may be a useful skill in any case! filled water supplies and generally devised clever ways of surmounting problems like getting a warm bath or shower. At the 'dob' session on prizegiving night- we heard of a mountain man trying to have a warm bath over a bucket of water, he sat down and became quite literally attached to the bucket by his backside! Another youthful 'novice mountain man' decided on New Years' morning to kill his hangover by a quick dip in the creek before breakfast - he said later the hangover was definitely preferable.