Fort Connah beckons visitors to a taste of the 1840s

Storm Dancer, Jocko Hendrickson’s paint mare, didn’t like them, but the skirling of the Great Scots bagpipes made it seem like Fort Connah in its youth, if the fences, houses dotting the foothills of the Mission Mountains, and the vehicles could have been whisked away.

Fort Connah hosted its annual rendezvous on Father’s Day weekend. Lawrence Walchuk and his team of red roan work horses met visitors at the cabin below the parking area and gave them a lift in his wagon to the fort proper. Rudy, Walchuk’s Australian shepherd, trotted along on each trip, taking a dip in the ditch to cool off and get a drink in between rides.

Fort Connah is the oldest standing Hudson Bay building in Montana and perhaps Idaho, according to Joe McDonald. He’s a descendant of Angus McDonald, who was in charge of building the trading post in 1847.

The fort’s logs are silvery grey and hand-adzed, and kept the damp out as members of the Fort Connah Restoration Society offered books about the Hudson Bay era and history of the area for sale. There are also displays of items used in Angus’s day.

“We have three buildings and the materials for the fourth,” Joe said.

Joe and Bob Bigart gave a talk at noon on Saturday about Angus, his family, the Hudson Bay Company, and history of the Fort Connah area.

“Angus was adept at languages,” Joe said, and that kept him climbing the Hudson Bay ladder.

His wife, Catherine, was Nez Perce and one quarter French so Angus spoke French. He also picked up many Indian languages.

According to Joe, the Queen of England gave the Hudson Bay Company the territory west of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Columbia River. Fort Connah and the Hudson Bay Company were able to operate until the Canadian line was established in 1849, but since they were out of anybody’s attention, they operated in U.S. territory for a long time afterwards.

Jocko Hendrickson, with his paint mare and regalia of leggings, moccasins and a bone bead breastplate, was popular with visitors. He said he's a direct descendant of Chief Charlo.

Several tipis were erected in the fort, one loaded with candy for the candy cannon to fire out in the field for the children present. Another couple had tables covered with Hudson Bay blankets that showcased furs, antlers, black-powder rifles, beadwork and skins.

Another big draw was author and McDonald descendant Alix Christie, who read from her book “The Shining Mountains,” and spoke about Angus and life in the 1800s.

In a smaller building, Donna Peck, in period dress, was spinning yarn. The room had a fireplace, but it would have been dark without the east window drawing in the sunshine between rain showers. Peck started spinning with drop spindles and making coarse yarn, but since 2010 she’s used a spinning wheel. It produces a finer yarn, she said.

Other Fort Connah Restoration Society members dressed much as they would have in the 1840s. Gary Steele had a collection of obsidian arrowheads and spearheads and explained how they were made. He also displayed axes, awls, hammers, knives made from rocks and deer antlers. Young entrepreneurs Cassidy Frame, Leighton Steele and Mark Steele sold beaded bracelets and necklaces they made as well as beads.

At Tracie McDonald’s tipi there were plates of beads and stretch string to make a bracelet or a necklace. There was also a food tent, with Indian tacos, hamburgers and hot dogs.

Fry bread came about after World War II, Joe said. He remembered his mom, who was Chippewa, taking bread dough, stretching it out, and deep frying it.

All in all, a visit to the Fort Connah Rendezvous was a gentle, interesting dive into local history, life in the 1840s, and the language, skills and hardy endeavors that kept the fort afloat almost two centuries ago.