Customer Reviews

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous

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This is a good resource book for anyone interested in the Fur Trade period of the old West (1825-1840). The Rocky Mountain rendezvous was a uniquely American creation whereby supplies were brought from St. Louis to the fur trappers working the streams in the Far West, thus eliminating their need to come down from the mountains to re-supply, wasting much valuable time. A site and time (usually early July) were prearranged and trappers, Indians, traders, and travelers made it a point to gather at the rendezvous.

Gowans describes each rendezvous that occurred, from the first in 1825 on Henry's Fork in southwest Wyoming to the last in 1840 at the often-selected Green River site near Daniel, Wyoming. Who was there, what business was conducted, impressions and incidents are all dealt with, many as revealed in journals and diaries of the participants. The famous Pierre's Hole fight with the Blackfeet as the 1832 rendezvous was breaking up is recounted in detail, as is the time Jim Bridger had an arrowhead removed from his back by Dr. Marcus Whitman at the 1835 gathering on the Green.

Gowans is particularly interested in locating the exact spot of each rendezvous as best as can be determined by contemporary accounts. For many of them he shows a map and photographs of what the site looks like today. The book also indexes all the names mentioned in the text, and contains a fairly detailed bibliography as well. The yearly rendezvous was fur trader and entrepreneur William Ashley's invention, a brilliant idea, and Gowans focuses on their actual locations and tells what went on at each one in this informative and entertaining book. Highly recommended.

To the novice of the fur trade era, this is a wonderful book. For the more experienced reader of this time period, it is a good review of the many names and places which shaped the early American West. Along with timely excerpts from a multitude of diaries, journals, narratives and books, the author also includes numerous maps, drawings and art work replications from the famous western painter Alfred Jacob Miller to depict these annual gatherings. The book is in a chronological time order, beginning with the first rendezvous of 1825 and culminating with the last event of its kind in 1840. It was as much a pleasure to read as I'm sure it would have been to experience these yearly social occasions.

This book presents a good review of the Rendezvous system of the fur trade in the far west. When reading, it would be helpful for the reader to develop a flowchart of the various companies and personnel associated with the fur trade -- and how and where they interact. This book provides a good supplement to the information available for students of the American fur trade era.

A must read for the mountain man lover !! lots of tall tales, stories, and interesting information about this obscure time period... when men were men..
and sheep were food !! along with dogs, cats, snakes, and ANYTHING that moved.
Even the soles of your moccasins were up for dinner if you got desperate enough !!
The country was young and unspoiled, the men were as tough as the indians, and scalped THEM , as well as any enemies, you had to fight just to "keep your hair"
This is a must have volume for fur trade buffs !!

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous is a very interesting book of American History and an absolutely must for us who wants to know about this period of history whether for student purposes or just for all round interest. It takes us from each and every gathering of mountain men, indians and support trains from the east every summer in the Green River Territory from when Ashley started in 1825 untill it all faded out in 1840. We get to know about goods and prises, about anecdotes and about who was there this and this year it be Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and many more. There are many eye witness stories for instance of battles between the whites and friendly indians on one side and the feared Blackfeet on the other. This is a book of history but it is as thrilling as any fiction.