SEQUIM — An English gentleman, many mighty mountain men and a couple of pirates at Slab Camp grounds south of Sequim celebrated the fur trading days of the early 1800s.
The event Saturday and Sunday, put on by the Green River Mountain Men, was a revival of the annual rendezvous that were held when the mountain men came down for more supplies.
Vendors with all sorts of goods — traditional weapons, musket balls, bows and arrows as well as paintings depicting the times — were scattered throughout the campground.
About 80 people attended, and about half registered to go on shooting ranges, which allowed those 13 and older to take aim with many different kinds of rifles and pistols.
Michael Shurr, the “booshway,” or leader of the event, said he got involved about three decades ago and hasn’t looked back.
After deciding to relocate from Kent, where the event has taken place the past several years, Shurr said he was searching out a new spot and found the Olympic Peninsula to be agreeable.
“We have vendors of every type selling just about everything you would need,” he said.
“And there are shooting competitions, the archery area and traditional campgrounds.”
One of the campgrounds is occupied by “Sir” Michael Mahlock, who portrays a major in the English army who is surveying the area — something the real British army did in the mid-1840s, he said.
His campground was made all by his own hand, and almost everything is traditional to the times, he said.
“I had a cousin who was a mountain man, so when I was thinking of a character, I wanted to do something that not everyone was,” he said.
“I even have a letter from a lieutenant [of the early 19th century] who had a list of everything that a fully equipped officer should have.”
Mahlock, who hails from Auburn, said he was happy to find a place to fit in.
“Where else can you dress up in funny clothes, play with old guns and tell lies all day — and still feel like you fit in,” he said.
“It’s great.”
Shurr nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
In addition to sharing time re-enacting the times, the group is also there to learn more.
Randy Rice, a vendor who had plenty of rifle-related items, showed off barrels of guns with smooth insides, or rifled insides — smooth ones are harder to aim and were traditional to the earlier part of the time span the group was covering.
“The guns we use today are basically the same design, just improved technology, as they were using back then,” he said.
The group also emphasizes safety by closely supervising those on the shooting range and pointing out dangers, such as loading the gunpowder from the horn rather than measuring it out.
It’s better to use a measuring container than pour directly into the weapon.
“If there were any little spark, I guarantee your horn would blow up,” said Will Ulry of Olympia.
A blown-up horn would have the same effect as a small bomb would.
“Almost all of the safety is between your ears,” said Shurr.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
