Fiacré's spade: Vacation, Day 1: The Rendezvous

Jane and I took our annual trip to the Boundary Waters later this year. All the weeks in July were booked when we started looking for dates in January. But I was retiring—why not go in August?

We got to Grand Marais in the afternoon of Saturday, August 10. While we were in the Visitors Center, we learned that a powwow and rendezvous was going on that weekend in Grand Portage. The woman at the desk was describing the Native American dances to other visitors as something not to be missed. We picked up the schedule and planned to head up on Sunday.

August is an excellent time to go up north. The biting insect populations were WAY down. The weather was cool, calm, and pleasant. We saw flowers that we had not seen before. For years, I had wondered what this common understory plant was with the very large leaves.

An understory plant with big leaves

When I saw the flower, I guessed it was an aster. When I looked it up yesterday, I found that its name is—drum roll please—large-leafed aster.

The characteristic aster flowers of large-leafed aster

Harebells (not to be confused with hair balls) were blooming as well.

Harebells

I made scrambled eggs with ham, green pepper, onions, and cheese curds for breakfast. We had leftover baked potatoes from our dinner Saturday, which fried up very nicely indeed.

Eggs with stuff and fried potatoes

While Jane washed the dishes, I perused the rendezvous schedule. We had missed most of the good stuff, since the event started on Friday. It was not clear from the schedule when the Native American dances were. The only things going on at the powwow grounds were a mixed softball tournament, a turkey shoot, Grand Entry, bingo, and a raffle drawing. Maybe the grand entry? There was a presentation at the Grand Portage National Monument on “Traditional Fiddling in the Fur Trade Era” that sounded interesting to me. It was at exactly the same time as the Grand Entry.

We found the parking lot, which looked on the map to be a short distance from the powwow grounds. What the map didn’t show is a rocky, washed out path that went more or less straight up. Jane couldn’t manage it, and I didn’t want to. We took the historic portage trail back to the National Monument and rendezvous.

The historic portage trail

For those of you not in the know, the rendezvous was the time that the voyageurs came from all over northern North America with furs that they collected over the winter by trapping and/or trading with Native Americans. The voyageurs met representatives from the fur companies to get paid and pick up trade goods for the next winter. Alcohol was involved.

The sign says the Grand Portage was 8.5 miles long. It bypassed meanders, cascades and waterfalls on the Pigeon River, and was used in the fur trade from 1731 to 1803. To give that some perspective, back in our canoe trip days, our worst, butt-busting portage was 160 rods. That was as far as we ever wanted to carry our canoe and gear. There are 34,720 rods in 8.5 miles. And a man wasn’t a man if he didn’t carry two 90-pound bales of beaver skins. I’ve heard that strangulated hernia was the most common cause of death. We have become so accustomed to planes, trains, and automobiles that it is hard to imagine when walking was the best option.

Me by the sign at the head of the Grand Portage

Here’s a view of part of the rendezvous. The Great Hall is in the background. A peek into the tents suggested that authenticity was left at the tent flap. Air mattresses and sleeping bags were common. I’m not judging. I’d do the same. Actually, I wouldn’t because I can’t see the point of playing dress-up on such a grand scale. But that’s just me. Some people obviously like it.

Part of the rendezvous encampment

Re-enactors

I noticed three kinds of tents. There was a single tent with flat ends, a single tent with a rounded back end, and the double wide.

Single and double-wide tents

There were a number of young adults and children participating in the re-enactment. Fun for the whole family!

Children in period costumes

A fully costumed woman painted on an easel on the porch of the Great Hall while her husband (I presumed) watched.

The porch of the Great Hall

We crossed a bridge over the Pigeon River to get from one side of the encampment to the other. A great blue heron seemed completely unperturbed by all the activity.

Great blue heron on the Pigeon River

I had wondered how the voyageurs learned to make birch bark canoes, and it turns out that they didn’t. The Ojibwe made and sold canoes to the voyageurs. Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? The Montreal canoes that were used to transport trade goods and “Company partners” to the rendezvous were 36 feet long and 6 feet wide in the middle. They could hold 4 tons of cargo. The picture on the plaque showed the company partner all dressed up in the business suit of the time, including a top hat. I wonder how realistic that was. The Great Lakes typically have sizeable waves. It would seem that everyone in the canoe would be wet most of the time. The 1500-mile trip from Montreal to Grand Portage took six to eight weeks. That figures out to be 28 to 37 miles a day. It was a frantic rush to get there and back before the weather got bad.

We walked down to the dock just in time to see a Mackinaw boat come up. The Mackinaw boat didn’t come into play until the 1830’s and 40’s, after the Glory Days of the voyageurs. The boat was pointed on both ends and had sails. The small outboard motor on the side of this replica is not true to the period.

A Mackinaw boat

I noticed that the pants of the boatman were pleated in the back. The extra fabric would make them comfortable for sitting in a boat all day.

Do these pleats make my butt look big?

The fiddling demonstration was good. The young woman was a ranger at the park who had been playing the violin for 20 years, beginning when she was 5. She explained that the music of the rendezvous was a combination of Scottish, French, Ojibwe, and Metis (persons of mixed European and Ojibwe heritage). She talked about the characteristics of each type of music and played examples. To be honest, I couldn’t tell the difference.