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Show add 2/ its bicentennial celebration, it's time the mountainman came alive. We didn't have a Boston Tea Party but we sure as heck had our share of real Americans in the days of the mountainman," he explained, his whisker-covered jaw set firm in determination. Decked out in traditional mountainman regalia -- buckskins, mocassins, beaver hat, powder horn over his shoulder and sitting astride a grizzly hide in his teepee, Ricky explained that one of the biggest hurdles was that there aren't many historical records on mountainmen. "Mountainmen were explorers, hunters. They earned their livings trapping. They didn't have time for schooling, let alone writin' . They would be gone for months at a time, leaving little time for anything more than survival. "But today's mountainmen don't have that disadvantage. They're interested in more than the sports. They want to bring the history and the traditions back. If it isn't recorded in this generation, then it'll probably be lost for good;" In the past few years, mountainman groups have sprung up throughout the west. While easterners do participate, Utah, Colorado, California and Wyoming are the hot spots. And while some clubs center only the shooting of the black powder guns, most are interested more in the traditions and customs. It's typical to see a guy dressed like Jeremiah Johnson, a couple squaws, even a farmer-type at a meeting. A rendezvous, the annual get together of mountainmen, will draw people from across the nation. |
