• Ten days of frontier history, hands-on demonstrations, and family activities

Western Wyoming’s annual rendezvous has moved to Alpine this year with the new name, Mad River Rendezvous. Guests will enjoy ten full days of education, presentations and hand-crafted products from the Fur Trade Era of the American continent from the early to mid-nineteenth century. Vendors, events and presentations are scheduled to welcome guests throughout the day May 15 through May 22 on the Cowboy Fireworks property at 117765 Hwy 89 in Alpine.

The tradition of the rendezvous originates with trappers and mountain men who gathered to trade goods and furs, which furnished them with the supplies they needed to survive for the coming year.

Feeling strongly that the history of the fur trading and mountain man era has been forgotten, Rick Burnside and Sarah Lederle have organized the Rendezvous.  “We are trying to keep awareness of the local history of the area alive,” said Burnside. “This history has been forgotten.”

Over the ten-day rendezvous, guests can enjoy education on Plains Indian Sign Language, which allowed folks across many cultures to communicate effectively. Demonstrations about fire making, primitive packing, archery and frontier weaponry and survival are on the schedule.

Vendors and educators will offer wood and leather worked items, goods created from horns and antlers, as well as beaded and other crafts representative of the Fur Trade era. There will be “no plastic, no stuff from overseas,” said Lederle. These are all authentic goods from the historical period.”

The Rendezvous offers activities created specifically for children and families with a candy cannon and scavenger hunt that will inspire children to visit each tent and learn something about the historical practices and goods of the era. “Every kid that completes the scavenger hunt, will get a prize,” said Burnside. “It encourages them to interact with the people in every tent.”

In prior years, the rendezvous was offered in Jackson. “We are hoping is goes really well in Alpine,” said Lederle. “A lot of the people have been super welcoming and open to the idea of bringing [the rendezvous] into Alpine.”

“Rick and I have been doing the rendezvous for six years,” said Lederle. “It’s really important that these sorts of skills live on and evolve in the modern day. People rely too much on devices, and now AI, and vehicles that tell you how to drive, and all the things that are taking away our power of thought. We are trying to promote creative thinking, and we feel very strongly about that.”

Rick hopes to inspire “using your own imagination to make your own products, your own creations, to see and get ideas on what you can do for yourself.

The couple feels that the history of Western Wyoming during the first half of the 19th Century is very interesting. “This whole part of Wyoming is still at a crossroads, here in the river valleys,” said Lederle. “The Astorians came straight through the Alpine area in 1811 on their way out to the west coast. They called the Snake the Mad River. There is a lot of heritage that we think people are not really aware of and it was a really interesting time in history when there was a lot of migration happening and a lot of interaction happening”.

All events are free to the public, though donations are appreciated. No food will be available at the event.