The things I love most about going to the Cascade Mountain Man gun shows are that I can wander around a vast marketplace of merchants selling handicrafts, and see people in historic costume. The Cascade Mountain Men is a reenactment group, similar to the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), only their focus is primarily frontier age America. It is breathtaking to see the amount of detail the members put into their outfits - you can see fur trappers, pioneers, cowboys, Civil War soldiers, and even some folks in Revolutionary War era gear, too.
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| Mountain man, who might have married a Native American woman, wearing the clothing the tribe made for him. Something of a mismatch, because he is wearing a Colonial era tricorne hat. |
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| Native American shell dress, for ceremonial occasions |
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| A good friend of my brother's, dressed in Colonial era townsman's garb |
Then, there are even some souls who dress up in striking Native American costumes. My favorite Native American re-enactment character is the very elusive fellow who dresses up as an Iroquois scout - I had to chase him around the show all day a few years back, because just as I would get my camera ready, he would vanish into the crowd. I finally got frustrated just as we were about to leave, and called out for him to please stand still. He was quite pleased to stop for a photo op, and here, in fact, is the picture I had worked
SO hard to get!
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| Iroquois scout - just as elusive as his inspiration! |
Of course, this can make a doll collector go completely insane, because all you can think is, "Ooh! That would make a
GREAT doll or doll costume!"
The best part is that the people in historic societies like this have done a
LOT of research for their costumes/characters, and if you want information, make sure you have some time because they really enjoy talking about the time frame, the character, the clothing, the technology of the time, and so forth. Another great thing is that these are some of the most considerate, kind hearted folks on the face of the planet.
If there is a local historical reenactment group near you, pay a visit some time. You will definitely enjoy yourself!
