Lighting Expert Visits Museum

Joe Velas of Los Angeles, president of JKL Components Corporation, and his wife Laura visited the museum for three days in April.  Joe’s company supplies light emitting diode systems for aircraft, automobiles, and other contemporary applications.  We have long had problems with lighting exhibit cases that have been added to our exhibition halls because the wiring was designed fifty years ago.  All museums have had problems with UV light spectra that cause damage to dyes, pigments, paints, fabrics, and documents. 

The LED’s do not emit UV rays, nor do they emit heat which is also a problem in exhibit cases.  These new lights run on 12-volt electricity, opening up an entirely new field for museum case illumination.  Mickey Dunbar, who does much of the museum’s exhibit case construction, has developed a hood that fits on top of some of our new exhibit cases, and we are now in the process of experimenting with the best ways to show our collection to its full advantage.  Because of the low voltage, the entire system can be constructed and installed without the use professional electricians.

This new lighting method will go a long way to solving major problems that we have had in protecting artifacts for over fifty years.  The other important improvement is that we will now have the ability to emphasize significant single objects within an exhibit with spot lighting and back lighting.

Indian Garden Up and Growing

Museum volunteers Mark Winckler and Kerry Bailey (who is also a member of the museum’s board of directors) took charge of preparing the museum’s Indian garden this spring.  While their work was not done with traditional tools such as buffalo scapula hoes and antler tine rakes, they did work up a sweat with a modern rototiller which softened the ground nicely. 

This year’s planting include: Arikara watermelons, which were introduced by fur trader James Mackay before 1800. They are an ancient variety originally obtained in Africa by Spanish explorers and then brought to the New World. When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri River they were surprised to find Indian tribes growing watermelons.  These are a small variety, 6 to 8 inches in diameter with sweet flesh, but far too many seeds for modern tastes. Usually the shells are dark green, but sometimes a dark and light stripe pattern appears. The Hidatsa beans are a small, dark red bean that was permitted to dry and then cooked as a winter food, just as we use most edible beans today.

The corn this year is Assiniboine flint, a handsome multi-colored maize that grows stalks about five feet tall.  We enjoy this attractive corn because it is supposedly the same variety that Fort Union bourgeois Kenneth McKenzie purchased for use in his still, the discovery of which cost him his position.  Nathaniel Wyeth ratted him out after enjoying the hospitality of the “King of the Upper Missouri.” 

The squash this year is from the Mandan Indians.  It is a summer squash eaten during the growing season and has a circular, flattened shell that is white with dark green ribs and nubs. 

One area of the garden is burned each spring as a preliminary to planting Mandan tobacco (Nicotiana quadrivalvis), one of the smallest varieties of domestic tobacco in existence.  Domesticated in prehistoric times perhaps as long ago as 1200 A.D. it remained popular for both sacred and secular use into the late nineteenth century. Six-inch bundles of the plant were traded to the Sioux for a tanned buffalo robe according to Melvin Gilmore, noted historian of Indian uses of plants. 

In September when the crops have been harvested, fresh seed will be available through the Museum Shop for anyone wishing to help preserve these ancient varieties of Plains Indian horticulture.  The original seeds for these plants were acquired from the Indians by Oscar Will, pioneer seed man of Bismarck, North Dakota.  Museum founder and director Charles E. Hanson, Jr. acquired the seeds from his son, George Will, who coauthored an important book about corn among the Missouri River Indians.  We have been raising them since 1936 to insure their viability.

Museum Staff Participate in Fort Laramie Observance

            The 175^th anniversary of the founding of Fort William, re-named Fort John, but popularly known as Fort Laramie, will be observed on June 19-21 at Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming.  This is of special interest to us because James Bordeaux, whose reconstructed trading post is on the museum’s grounds and is the reason for our location here, was one of the fort’s traders and was in command of the fort when Francis Parkman visited in 1846, as described in his book, The Oregon Trail. 

            Two of the Museum of the Fur Trade staff will make presentations on Saturday, June 20^th.  Jim Hanson will detail the broad picture of the Missouri River fur trade. The museum director, Gail DeBuse Potter will talk about the women of the western fur trade.  Following is a complete schedule of the commemoration.  For further information contact, Mitzi Frank, superintendent Fort Laramie National Historic Site, 965 Gray Rocks Road, Fort Laramie, WY 82212.

Friday, June 19.  The first evening entertainment, Tall Tales of the Fur Trade will be presented by re-enactors—a story telling competition.

Formal presentations being Saturday at 9:45. There will be a living history group all weekend.

10 am:  Dr. James A. Hanson, “My Thoughts are Always of Those Days: the Epic Story of the Great Plains Fur Trade.”

11 am:  Dr. Barton Barbour, “An Introduction to the Fur Trade at Fort William/Fort Laramie, 1834-49.”

12 pm:  Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout, “Across the Wide Missouri: the Music of the Fur Trade.”

1:30 pm: William “Bill” Gwaltney, “Beyond the Pale: African American in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.”

2:30 pm: Gail DeBuse Potter, “She is a Better Looking Piece than the First one that run Away from Him: Women in the Western Fur Trade.”

3:30 pm:  Dr. Gerard Baker, “The Five Villages of the Upper Missouri: the Original Fur Traders.”

4:30 pm: Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout.

Sunday presentations will feature:

9 am: Jane and Robert Dorn, A bird walk following in the steps of John Kirk Townsend’s 1834 Expedition.

10 am: John C. Jackson, “The Mixed-Blood Progeny of the Mountaineers Associated with Fort William.”

11 am: Dr. Danny Walker, “Searching for Fort William: Will the Fort Ever be Found?”

1:30 pm: Doyle Reid, “Formidable Men and Heroes: the Forgotten Delaware Mountaineers.”

2:30 pm: Rex Norman., “Legacy on the Laramie: How Fort William and the Fur Trade Shaped a Westering National.”

3:30 pm:  Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout

Volume One of Fur Trade Encyclopedia Shipped to Designer

After five arduous years the text and over 1,000 illustrations of the first volume of a six-volume encyclopedia of trade goods has been sent to Ariane Smith who was selected to prepare the book for printing. Smith lives in Spokane, Washington and has done design work for other historical publishers including The Arthur Clark Company.

            In the process of developing this book, the museum discovered that we have some duplicates in our firearms collection.  In that same vein, museum member Gene Galloway of Council Bluffs, Iowa donated his life-long collection of Henry muzzleloading firearms. Several of them are now part of our permanent collection of fur trade guns and the others are being sold for the benefit of the museum.   Those remaining will be listed for sale as well. Our thanks to Mr. Galloway for this tremendous support.  It has always been our policy to not hoard duplicate or extraneous material, but to make it available to the public by sale or exchange. A few of the recently deaccessioned items are listed at the end of this newsletter. Please call 308-432-3843 to make certain of their availability.

1. THE LAST FLINTLOCK NORTH WEST GUN MADE IN AMERICA.  Henry Leman’s final US contract for North West guns ended in 1860. Most of these arms went to the Sioux. This example closely follows the pattern being used by the Hudson’s Bay Company at the same time, with cast trigger, trigger plate, pinned stud to fasten the front of the trigger guard, round tail lock plate, double-throat hammer, and five-screw butt plate.  It has a 36-inch barrel and weighs 7 ½ pounds. The gun is .72 caliber, which Leman objected to, but the federal government insisted that the bores be made larger. Lock marked “H. E. LEMAN.” Barrel marks include LEMAN in a semi-circle, English proof marks, and maker’s initials. Metal work is pitted throughout, but marks are readable. This gun is among the last made for the federal government and is extremely rare, as are all American-made North West guns. This gun was purchased by Charles E. Hanson, Jr., in 1960 and exhibited at the Museum of the Fur Trade for nearly fifty years. It is described and illustrated in the new firearms encyclopedia.  $7,000 postpaid.

2. RARE NORTH WEST COMPANY TRADE GUN. Made by Sharpe and dated 1818, this gun was one of those supplied by the North West Company during its period of great expansion and competition with the HBC.  North West Company traders ranged from the Arctic to Fort George (Astoria) on the Pacific and down into Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and the Dakotas. This example has a 42-inch barrel, .62 caliber, and weighs 6 pounds. The barrel is marked with Birmingham proofs and fox-in-tombstone. The forestock, which was originally spliced by Sharpe, has several replaced pieces of wood. Nailed-on butt plate and lock held with two screws, a feature adopted by English makers about 1815. The gun has been expertly re-converted to flint and was exhibited at the Museum of the Fur Trade for 40 years. An excellent example by a rare maker, only five examples known, of a gun important to both American and Canadian history. It is described and illustrated in the new firearms encyclopedia.  $6,000 postpaid.

3. WAR of 1812 BOARD OF ORDANCE CHIEFS GUN. Made by William Ketland & Company of Birmingham. Possibly made to help fill the orders of one of the 16 regular contractors (two of whom were Ketland companies), or to supply Indians as supplemental or subsequent contract. Board of Ordnance-marked pistols and rifles by Ketland are also known. It has a 36-inch barrel, .62 caliber, and weighs 5 ½ pounds. In excellent condition with silver wrist or thumb piece; bow, quiver, and arrow engraving; military proofmarks; and Board of Ordnance inspector’s stamp. An impressive example of one of the most significant Indian firearms in US-Canadian history. It is described and illustrated in the new firearms encyclopedia.  $7,500 postpaid.