Rendezvous at Lake Iowa
Every year at about this time, the Iowa Long Rifle Club and Iowa County Conservation host a Rendezvous at Lake Iowa. For those unfamiliar, Lake Iowa is a Park operated by Iowa County Conservation and is located north of Millersburg Iowa about 6 miles. The park offers great fishing on the lake, a beach, loads of camping (both developed and primitive), a nature interpretive center, hiking, and many other activities throughout the year.
The Rendezvous has been occurring since 2020 according to Gary Carter of the Iowa Long Rifles. But what is a Rendezvous?
Historically, a Rendezvous was a meeting of merchants, trappers, mountain men, and others from the American Frontier who were interested in trading goods, seeing friends, and preparing for the next annual cycle of their lives. These meet ups occurred in the wilderness in several locations and times, but the golden age of the American Western Rendezvous was from 1825 to 1840. The last of the classic Rendezvous occurred in the Rocky Mountains in 1840.
Today, a Rendezvous is a historical recreation of these meet-ups and more. Rendezvous re-enactments are based on the time period of 1750-1840 and are gatherings of people interested in this time period and in re-enacting the lifestyles and traditions practiced by early Americans and Native Americans – specifically those involved in the fur trade, exploration of the continent, hunting, and living-off-the-land.
Participants (as opposed to visitors or spectators) will portray personalities from the time period. Not necessarily famous or actual people, but characters created using information available as to the typical skills, activities, and abilities of people in that time period. As a case in point, I spoke with “Wolfie,” a trapper/hunter/scout of the Ohio River Valley during the 1750s. Wolfie detailed to me how he spent his time and the skills he had, “I am an Englishman, and do a lot of hunting for villages up and down the Valley as well as the military encampment at Fort Pitt. I also am employed by the military from time to time to scout the surrounding frontier and report back the location of the French, French-allied Natives, and other general information about the landscape.” Wolfie (whose modern name is Kurt Steggall), also gave us a run-down on things he might do on a regular basis such as make his own weapons (bow, arrows, hafts for blades, etc), hunting game both large and small, and the ability to speak with Natives, the French, and English alike. We met Wolfie during an archery demonstration using period accurate long bows. He is also one of the organizers of the Ft. Atkinson Rendezvous.
Coming out of character (some participants never do, but others will from time to time for discussions), Kurt and Kat O’Donnell (scribe for the Iowa Long Rifles) spoke to us about Rendezvous in general. “There are events almost every weekend in the Midwest – and many times multiple ones – throughout the sprint/summer/fall season,” Kurt/Wolfie let us know. “The Lake Iowa Rendezvous is a small one, but has been going for many years,” Kat said, “and a lot of us are friends and/or family. It is a more intimate Rendezvous, but no less accurate.”
Events at the Lake Iowa Rendezvous include rifle shoots, bow shoots, flint and steel fire starting, trap setting, hawk/knife demonstrations, fishing derby, and other games.
The Lake Iowa Rendezvous this year was scheduled for May 17-19. Aside from the activities, goods representative of the time period are available: items such as jewelry, tin-smithed items, leather goods, carving/wood items, and much more.
Other resources: