The 5th annual Cache Valley Mountain Man Rendezvous was held this Memorial Day weekend at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah.
“My name is Annalise Christensen. I'm the programming assistant here at the American West Heritage Center, and we run the Cache Valley Mountain Man Rendezvous.”
How long have you been doing this?
“I’ve been here for 11 years, and we started doing this rendezvous five years ago. And we're predominantly a learning environment. We have bullet making, we have lots of different skill demonstrators here that are going throughout the day, and then of course, on a regular schedule. So we have finger weaving, we did trapping the other day. Fire starting is always popular, because you know, kids and grownups alike like fire. Later on, hopefully, if the weather holds, we'll do a cannon demonstration,” Christensen said.
What's the point of learning how to make fires with friction and magnifying glasses?
“If your car breaks down on the side of the road or something, you know, and you've got your lighter, but it's out of juice, what are you going to do? I’m not saying every rock on the side of the road is flint, but it's a fun skill to learn. And not only are you learning the skill, but you're learning the patience it takes to learn that skill. It's not just a fun hobby, but a way of learning things. And I think everyone should continue to learn throughout life, no matter how old they are,” Christensen said.
