Ready for rendezvous

Annual mountain man event celebrates Santa Fe's Anglo heritage

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

8/14/2008 - 8/15/08

Bearded men in buckskins with handmade knives and other accouterments of the early 19th century have taken over the Palace of the Governors courtyard for the 24th annual Mountain Man Trade Fair and Rendezvous being held through Sunday.

Jeff Hengesbaugh of Glorieta said he got former History Museum Director Tom Chavez to agree to host the first rendezvous in 1985 to balance Hispanic and American Indian events with a celebration of Santa Fe's Anglo heritage.

"For the next 15 years, we'd cook a buffalo in the parking lot," he said. "Every Saturday night, we'd have a fandango. We'd have hailstorms and bourbon, and invite the whole town. We'd have lectures. It was incredible. And it went on that way for a very long time."

Since Chavez retired from the Palace of the Governors and the new state History Museum began going up behind it, Hengesbaugh said, the celebration has a been more sedate. "But the show itself has become literally world renowned," he added. "We have people coming from all over Europe because everybody here is a historian. Everybody here is impassioned about what they do. ...

"They're not empire builders. But they're really content, and they love their lives, and they have a lot of wonderful stuff."

Buckskinners Bill and Debbie Henaman of Trinidad, Colo., have been coming to the Santa Fe show for 18 years. "It's a lifestyle, not a sport," said Bill. "We don't do re-enactments, either. Re-enactments are like battles — usually military or cowboy shootouts. We practice living the mountain man lifestyle as much as possible."

About 18 traders have set up booths in the courtyard with goods ranging from tiny stone crosses for $3 to a beaded, fringed, buckskin dress for $850 to a knife that reportedly belonged to Kit Carson for $500,000. "I've had this knife pretty much authenticated," explained W.F. Smith of Polvadera, near Socorro, who has been coming to the Santa Fe show with his wife, Lee Smith, for 12 years. "I have the paperwork that comes with it."

Doug Casteel of Albuquerque said he has been going to mountain man rendezvous for 11 years but this is only his second year at the Santa Fe event. He said he hasn't quit his day job as a real-estate agent but manages to do well selling merchandise that ranges from reproductions to authentic pre-1840 weapons and tools. "This has, for a good part, become a show for a lot of antique dealers," he said.

Casteel said he's heard the early Santa Fe rendezvous were rowdy events. "In the old days, you could camp in here," he said. "That's since been banned. I think they even used to shoot guns in here. They probably wouldn't like that these days."

Performances of mountain-men music are planned from 1:30 to 3 p.m. today and from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Children's activities are planned from 10 a.m. to noon today and Saturday.

There is no charge for the rendezvous. Enter through the blue gate off Lincoln Avenue.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or e-mail him at tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Mountain Man Trade Fair and Rendezvous

Where: Palace of the Governors courtyard

When: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. today and Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

Admission: Free. Enter through the blue gate off Lincoln Avenue