Fur Trade Era comes to life

Hundreds of area students got the opportunity to step back in time to the 1740-1840 Fur Trade Era last week at the Zumbro Bend Rendezvous in Dodge Center.
The Rendezvous allows visitors to experience early American history in a way that no text book can provide. Organizers of the event provided two educational days for students to witness history in the Zumbro River region. About 850 students from seven school districts around the region took part in the Rendezvous.
In addition to education days for children, the Rendezvous also opened up camp to the public throughout the weekend. This is the 16thyear of the event, which used to take place in Mantorville. It was moved to Dodge Center two years ago because of flooding issues along the river.
Will Peterson of Waltham showed children an array of pistols, rifles and a canyon used during the Fur Trade Era. The weapons came from the collection of Peterson’s grandfather, who was known around the Rendezvous as Pirate Bob before dying of cancer a few years ago. “This is only about a quarter of the collection,” he said pointing to eight rifles and six pistols. 
One question he typically starts out with when teaching students: Where was gun powder accidentally discovered? The answer is China when people were mixing various chemicals and they exploded, Peterson said.
While it may seem a bit unusual for someone like Peterson, who is only 21 years old, to be extensively involved in history, he enjoys teaching others about the Fur Trade Era. “I like getting away from the technology just to camp,” he said, noting he is a big gamer. “I openly admit I do too much (gaming). This gets my mind on something else.”
Peterson has found many people don’t even know what the Fur Trade Era represents. He says it’s a period of time where people were sent from Europe to America to hunt animals for fashion back in Europe. He noted Queen Victoria had a beaver-felt hat in the 1700s, and “everyone had to have one after that.”
He said the part he has found fascinating with that era is how the fur traders and the native Americans got along. “It was a big get together to trade,” Peterson said. “It was a good relationship between both parties,” he added.
The Rendezvous featured 27 demonstrators from all over the region. Some of the demonstrations included flute making, rope making, grave digger, hawk throwing, archery, weaving, spinning and fire starting. 
“The important part would be to learn the real history. Things the textbooks don’t teach you,” Peterson said. He added there are a lot of things the textbooks don’t relate about the Fur Trade Era.