Every summer in the Northern Rockies, adherents to the pioneer lifestyle don powder bags, felt caps and furs, sight in their muzzleloaders and gather in the forest to celebrate a frontier tradition stretching back nearly two centuries.

Outside Marion recently, the Flathead Valley Muzzleloaders held their annual Merical Mountain Rendezvous, one of many events in the region that pay homage to the festivities begun by fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Dan Bourne, a retired Kalispell police officer and a longtime member of the group, sat by the campfire, draped in furs and wearing a pair of wire spectacles. Between puffs on his cigar, he explained that the present-day “mountain man gatherings” are modeled after the Rendezvous Period of the fur trade era from the 1820s to 1840.

The fur trade was largely a solitary occupation, he said, and predated most of the permanent settlements that would later populate the mountains of the country’s western territories.

“There needed to be some way to supply these guys, and the spring hunt for beaver ends when the ice goes off,” Bourne said. “So between the spring and fall hunts, big brigades came from St. Louis and would bring everything the trappers would need.”

The supply caravans would meet up with trappers and other pioneers, who would sell furs and buy the next year’s worth of tobacco, traps, trap springs, gunpowder and other tools of the trade.

After the trappers stocked up on supplies, the meets became the major social events of the industry.

“It would be a big blowout — they’d have contests of who could run the fastest, who could shout the best. There’d be wrestling and drunken fighting,” Bourne said.

The Flathead Muzzleloaders have been upholding the tradition for about 20 years, and their May celebration included sharpshooting, knife-throwing and frying pan-tossing contests throughout the weekend. Families clad in period attire filtered in and out of the wooded property, their campsites equally period-appropriate with tepees, canvas tents and cast-iron cookware.

The centerpiece of the event is the shooting contest, which attracts upwards of 90 participants each year from the Flathead region and as far away as Eastern Montana, Idaho and Canada.

Gun blasts and the smell of black powder filled the air as shooters took turns firing muzzleloader rifles — antique firearms as well as hand-crafted, modern replicas.

Mike Jorgenson, vice president of the local muzzle-loading group, said the organization stays active year-round with monthly gatherings to test out their rifles and share their harvest, from beaver stew to buffalo ribs.

“Our members also help with the local 4-H muzzleloading program,” Jorgenson added. “We’re really proud of our 4-H kids. Several of them have gone to the national competition in Nebraska.”

While the group’s common interest is fairly narrow, he said its roughly 65-person membership is surprisingly diverse.

“You’ll find people here from every walk of life,” he said. “You’ve got guys in every trade you can imagine — one guy is a surgeon and anesthesiologist from Milwaukee.”

For most of the gun collectors gathered at the rendezvous, classic rifles are just a hobby, but Mark Morain of Libby has managed to turn it into his career.

Pausing to reload a replica “chief’s gun” — modeled after rifles traditionally presented to native leaders as peace offerings — he said he’s been building replica muzzleloaders since 1982.

“I was always fascinated with old guns and the history around them,” Morain said. “When I first started getting into shooting muzzleloaders, I couldn’t afford the cost of the custom-made ones, so I just started making them myself.”

“They’re fun to build, and they’re challenging,” he said. “I guess it’s just in your blood a bit.”

Today he owns Kootenai River Traders in Libby, which supplies custom-designed firearms to local enthusiasts. He’s also expanded his business to crafting shooting bags, powder horns, furniture and clothing fashioned after the Rendezvous Period.

Each summer he travels to similar events throughout the region, where he finds a thriving market for his work.

“It’s just become a lifestyle as much as a hobby and a business,” Morain said.

At the campfire, Bourne puffed a small cigar and joked with old friends, trading lighthearted critiques of their carefully assembled pioneer garb.

He’s a longtime member of the Flathead Valley Muzzleloaders, and said the annual events draw him out for much the same reasons as the original rendezvous-goers.

“The trappers didn’t make much money, but they sure weren’t working slave labor in the states,” Bourne said. “They were free, and that was the attraction for the mountain men.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.