History on the Ground

by Robert Lillegard

The blacksmith has set up his shop, and the coals are glowing under the bellows. In a grassy field, two men duel with sabers, feinting left and right. Women in cinched-up dresses are sipping tea around a fire, a group of young natives and settlers play lacrosse with wooden sticks, and an old Voyageur peddles his wares by the lake. But you’re not in 1790—you’re at the St. Louis River Rendezvous.

In the days of the fur trade, rendezvous were month long events. Fur company representatives, trappers, and craftsmen would gather to relax, socialize, and trade for what they needed. These combinations of business and entertainment were some of the most anticipated events of the year, incursions of civilization into a brutal wilderness.

Now, rendezvous are a way to reach the past. Participants dress up in 1790s clothing, sleep in wood-and-canvas tents, and grill meat over fires in cast-iron cookpans. Many create personas, making up a character who would have lived in that time. Life-long rendezvouser Ben Kreidel calls it “history on the ground”—a chance to mingle, laugh, and work in a time out of time.

This weekend’s rendezvous, which costs about $2 a person, takes place just off highway 33 in Cloquet (212 7th Street Cloquet, MN 55720). It runs from 9am to 7pm July 2 through July 4, 2010. Stop by and see how people lived in the 1790s. Talk with the reenactors. Play some lacrosse. Watch the cannons, the games, the banter. On Saturday evening, there’s even a historical dance (bring your costume!).

If you’re interested in event pictures, you can find them here.  Or, to read a first-hand account of a rendezvous, go here. And if you’d like to see the rendezvous yourself, get in your car.  We’ll be waiting for you!