Rendezvous with history

For 18th- and early 19th-century reenactors, the past is a weekend away

Story and photos by Charles J. Balesi

I discovered the hidden historic Midwest fifteen years ago, first at Fort de Chartres when I was beginning research for a book about the region's French past. "Come to the Rendezvous on the first weekend in June," I was told, "you will be pleasantly surprised."

To reach Fort de Chartres, six hours from Chicago, two from St. Louis, you eventually must take Highway 3 and not miss the turnoff at Ruma, a few houses and a tavern grouped at an intersection. Shortly thereafter, the road goes down abruptly in tight curves through a densely forested ravine. Then a small bridge and a name—Prairie du Rocher—and you're entering a town the French founded in 1718. Prairie du Rocher—pronounced "de Roshur" by latter-day Illinoisans— is very much alive with hopes to share its revival through tourism, just as Ste. Genevieve across the Mississippi River was able to do so successfully.

You're still in Illinois, but the short descent takes one from the flat, rather dull landscape into a different, lush world, where little has changed over the years. On the horizon the western bluffs mark the ancient bed of the Mississippi and, immediately behind, are the hills of the Ozarks. Two more miles past the chain of levees and a long majestic lane of oak trees lead you to the gate of Fort de Chartres, a stone fort rebuilt by the WPA during the Depression. The fort was reconstructed on the original foundations of the massive defense works the French erected at great expense in 1754 to replace an older log construction.

Voyageurs of the Illinois Brigade enjoy a breakfast of corn pureee and salted pork during their November outing.

I remember distinctly my first time at the Forts Rendezvous. As an historian, I firmly believe in the importance of visiting any place you intend to write about, and, here I had stumbled on the original set, alive with a cast of characters demonstrating what I meant to describe. I was struck by the number of people dressed in Eighteenth-Century garb, going about their daily chores, cutting wood, cooking on open fires, and mending clothes. These were not actors or students on a summer following a script a la Williamsburgh, but people from all walks of live engaged in reenacting through their instincts and logic. Few had blood ties with the French whose personae they assumed for the weekend; their hearts and emotions were the connection with history.

At sunset came units of French militia, Compagnies franches de la marine, the British Black Watch Regiment, and the American Rangers, all marching ceremoniously for the ritual of retiring the colors. The occasion was presided over by the Commandant, dressed in a resplendent, scrupulously authentic uniform of a French colonel in Louis XV's armies. His name was Marvin Hilligoss and I would come to know him well. A former

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reenactor hired by the State of Illinois to supervise gun firing at the site. Hilligoss was a character; I will always remember him fondly."

A quarter century later, the Fort de Chartres Rendezvous, having survived the hiatus of the Flood of 1993, continues to take place on the first weekend of every June, and now attracts hundreds of costumed re-enactors. The cast includes merchants of period crafts with their colorful marquees, Native Americans sporting war paint and breech cloth, storytellers, minstrels, and the occasional authentic trapper. By the time most davtime visitors have returned home, the aroma of barbecued meat ranging from humble chickens to mure exotic game mixes with the lingering scent of black powder and the pungent smell of burning wood. The encroaching night muffles the sound of tin tumblers and goblets. Then the first ballads, drinking songs, and bagpipe tunes of the night can be heard from campfire to eampfire, the magic-dissolving the tyranny of time.

What is a Rendezvous?

Rendezvous is a French word meaning "meeting" or "date." Every two years during the 1700s and 1800s, fur traders and trappers gathered at a pre-determined location to trade with each other and the American Indians, to catch up on news, and to enjoy their version of a good time. At first the European participants were all French, but it wasn't long before other nationalities joined in. Still, it would be French words such as "portage," "barbeque," and "rendezvous" that entered the American vocabulary. Today the word describes a variety of living history activities.

Living history programs developed rapidly since the celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution in 1976, bringing together a variety of free-spirits. Some are refugees from the Hippie movement, bikers, environmentalists, military history enthusiasts, muzzle-loader aficionados, and re-enactors. Others are staunch herbal tea-toddlers as well as those who appreciate a good shot of whisky. Determined loners and gregarious souls carouse together at rendezvous, and all share a common love for the past.

A reenactnient of the French Indian war at the Rendezvous on the Rouge River, near Detroit.

For the purist, "rendezvous" applies only when describing to the world of re-enactors: traders, voyageurs, and Native Americans—not to historical recreations of mock battles, shoots, and military drills and parades.

Authenticity, though encouraged, is not always demanded by event organizers, however, which is why academics often hold living history programs in low regard. But for the casual observer these anachronisms often go unnoticed.

Yet, one can learn much from watching the difficult art of hitting stationary target at fifty yards with a musket, or of baking bread in a old-fashioned outdoor oven, or of the patience that candle making requires.

Rendezvous can be big, even huge, as in the Feast of the Hunter's Moon in Ouiatenon, the ancient French post on the Wabash River four miles south of West Lafayette, in Indiana, held every weekend of October. The event has attracted thousands of re-enactors and tens of thousands of visitors in its 28-year history. Events can be small and intimate too, such as the annual Labor Day Rendezvous at Fort Bon Secours, near Eau Claire, in Wisconsin.

Organizers like to set up French-Indian War reenactments because they are always popular with visitors. They can be quite elaborate, as at the historic site of

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the French Fort of Louisbourg in Canada, or at Fort de Chartres in Illinois. Even when no battles are staged there are drills and fife and drum performances.

Hot on the trail of history

I spent a great deal of last spring, all of the summer, and mos the fall traveling from rendezvous to rendezvous in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. When I participate I wear the uniform of an officer in the Eighteenth Century French Marines.

Among my experiences that stand out was a night in the log-built tavern at White Oak Fur Post at Deer River, Minnesota, where we crowded around an improvised bluegrass jam session that lasted until dawn. The White Oak Society owns several acres of original wetlands and woods, with a rebuilt post, restored authentically down to the smallest details. From July to August, eighteen different folk groups organize and manage the entertainment, sandwiched between events such as "Shot gun shoot," "Fancy Dandy Shoot," and "Seneca Runs," the last being a timed event, with participants trying to hit targets on the run.

The Chautauqua and French Festival, sponsored by the Association of the North, also takes place in Minnesota, near Red Lake Falls, a few miles from the Canadian border. This Rendezvous is set on historic grounds, right where the cart trail to St. Paul, still very visible, forded the Red Lake River. It is an area where many residents are of French and Indian ancestry, with names such as Huot, Vaudrin, Beauchesne. Professor Virgile Benoit, who lives only a mile from the site, is cofounder of the festival, along with Pierre and Carol Uebe. A man of imposing stature, Pierre Uebe sports a white mane and abundant beard. He and his wife now run a business aptly named "Blue Frog Traders."

The late Marvin Hilligoss (right), long-time reenactor, and Fort de Chartres "Commandant" par excellence.

At Chautauqua, around a huge bonfire by the bank of the river, heard for the first time Metis — French-Indian descendants— sing in Michif, the French-Cree dialect still commonly spoken there. The singers were from the Turtle Mountains and Manitoba, across an international border that is to them an artificial nuisance. Their songs and stories brought a unique dimension to this rendezvous. The voices rising over the cotton trees, the faces lit by burning logs told a tale of ongoing struggles for cultural survival that bridged reenactment to reality.

A canoe daytrip inland from where the St. Joseph River and Lake Michigan meet, half-mile south from the town of Niles, you find a river front park and the nearby archaeological site of Fort St. Joseph. This fur-trade post built by the French and rebuilt over the years has seen the flags of four nations: Spanish, French, British, and American.

The annual July St. Joseph Rendezvous has a mission: To rebuild the original fort. If, and when, it is rebuilt, Fort St. Joseph would be a handsome addition to the string of reconstructions that, from northern Michigan to Kentucky, fill the double purpose of education and entertainment.

All business and pleasure

Three major events, two in Indiana and one in Illinois, bring the essential part of the rendezvous season to a conclusion: Mississinewa 1812; the Feast of I Iunter's Moon; and the Trail of History.

Mississinewa bridges the gap between 18th and 19th century, evoking the memory of the last stand of the Miami Indian nation and allied French settlers against an overwhelming American military. The site, which includes a permanent Indian village, is, like most, hidden away on a river bank near the town of Marion, Indiana. It is one of the best organized and best-run of all events I have seen from the point

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of view of the visitors, who come by the tens of thousands. At Mississinewa, you will find an imposing military encampment, Voyageur and Trapper camps, and a large village of traders. A continuous program of battle reenactments, parades, and folklore concerts lasting ate into the night.

Of all the events, the Feast of the Hunters' Moon stands in a class by itself. More a rendezvous than historic encampment (military parades but no shoots), the program attracted nearly 70,000 visitors and 7,000 reenactors to Fort Ouiatenon (West Lafayette, Indiana) last October.

One year the theme was ''The Women of Quiatenon," which featured unsung heroines from camp followers to historical characters such as Widow Therese Catin, a fur-trader in her own right. The theme had more than historical significance. The Feast was run efficiently for several seasons by Leslie Dotson, an historian then attached to the Tippecanoe Historical Society. Dressed in the riding clothes of a French middle-class woman, she cut a unique figure among rough-looking re-enactors; she was also the eyes and brains behind the financial success of the event; as with many living history events, the Feast of the Hunters' Moon is also a business meant to support historical projects.

The style of the Trail of History is rigorous authenticity, with cars and trucks parked a half mile away rrom the campgrounds, totally out of sight. Organizers keep a watchful eye out for less obtrusive anachronisms too. Nestled in McHenry County Glacial Park in northern Illinois, the camp is overlooked by a high ridge. The tradition is for the re-enactors, carrying their ancient-style lanterns, to climb for a moment of communion with nature and the past. Flickering lights, silhouettes wrapped in Eighteenth-Century garb, and the occasional "Amazing Grace," all conspire to produce a truly magical moment. Rendezvous and historical reenactments create their own economy. Smoke and Fire, a publication out of Grand Rapids, Ohio, covers all aspects of the reenactment phenomenon, listing 79 events taking place in the U.S. and Canada just for the month of July. For the whole year there were 21 medieval and 20 Scottish reenactments, 34 reenactments of the War of 1812, and 73 Native American gatherings, and 26 dates for French-Indian War devotees to gather.

Spectators "drafted" in the Scottish army at "Culloden," in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

During each weekend for eight months of the year, tens of thousands of visitors and re-enactors bring an appreciable revenue to many small towns. Visitors acquire crafts, hand-made jewelry, folk art, and music tapes. Re-enactors buy accessories, period clothing, including leather goods and furs. For many of the "Blanket Traders" it is a weekend hobby; they barely make enough for gas money to reach the next event. For others, the market is sizable. A good example is Ernie and Vicky "Two Bears." Their display of quality furs and skins would more than satisfy any retailer on Chicago's "Magnificent Mile."

During the cold season, some events are now taking place indoors, sheltered in the relative coziness of county fair buildings or similar structures. The Antique Arms and History Fair in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the Trade Fair of Greenfield, Indiana, the former in October and the latter at the end of November, are two examples. Both are far more successful as tradeshows than as rendezvous.

The economic dimension of rendezvous and historical reenactments need not decried; to the contrary, it shows to many communities that preservation and conservation can have a viable and positive economic impact. And, if a few hundred traders, big and small, can earn an income out of living history, history itself certainly stands to profit.

Charles J. Belesi is the author of The Time of the French in the Heart of North America, 1673-1818, published by the Alliance Francaise of Chicago, now in its third edition. A new French edition was recently printed in Quebec.

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