NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/547470
30 NEBRASKAland • AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2015 T he frontiersman stepped out from beneath the shadowy canopy of evergreens. He lifted a black powder measure to the barrel of his muzzleloader. The powder horn at his side was etched with delicate scrimshaw in the images of snake and bear, its stopper intricately carved in the shape of a man's hand. A knife, its handle fashioned from the jawbone of a black bear with the teeth intact, was attached to a possibles bag of hand-stitched leather. One can only imagine the hours a mountain man would have spent, kneeling by a warm fire on cold winter nights, carving and shaping the tools he'd need for the next day's hunt. Members of the North Fork Frontiersmen of the Elkhorn River can tell you just how many hours. For the past 30 years, members of the club have held mountain men rendezvous to spend time with others interested in the history of the first white men who scouted un-trapped streams, barely a step ahead of restless pioneers looking for good farmland. These men and women come to sharpen their muzzleloading shooting skills and hone their frontier skills, and to talk around the campfire about the frontiersmen who once explored the Far West, trapping beaver and other animals in Rocky Mountain country in the first half of the 1800s. Back then, buckskinners had only themselves to rely on for food and shelter, trading the furs from animals they shot and trapped for necessary supplies. Held in Battle Creek in recent years, the location of the shooting grounds has varied since the club's existence, but the enthusiasm of the North Fork Frontiersmen has never wavered. At one time, they registered over 100 shooters at their meet; however, a typical shoot will bring in 60 to 70 shooters plus their families. Powder and Lead Early on, meetings were at the local community college. Stories swapped and lessons learned included presentations on mountain man history, firearms, tools and period clothing, many led by college professor and history buff Gary Miller. Miller was just a "little guy," he said, when he became fascinated with a colorful book about Sioux Indian chiefs. He soon began to search out stories about American Indians and white immigrant settlements and the history of the Wild West. He read all he could about the exploits of Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone's early years on the Kentucky frontier, and author James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, with its Natty Bumppo character inspired in large part by Daniel Boone. "My interest was always there," Miller said, but it lay Story by LaRayne Topp Photos by Jenny Nguyen North Fork Frontiersmen The palisade shoot is a timed event where shooters try to knock down as many animal-shaped targets as possible with their muzzleloaders.