31st Annual Fort Union Rendezvous June 13 - 16

This year’s Fort Union Rendezvous will take place June 13th through the 16th. Headlining the rendezvous this year will be Mr. Jerome Kills Small, Red Robin, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Jerome is the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award from South Dakota Humanities Council, Reconciliation Award from the Governor of South Dakota, George Mickleson, University of South Dakota Poet of the Year in 1994, and he has awards and certificates for speaking at Red Road Retreat and the Building Bridges Conference. He has been in several videos for Iowa State University.

The Rendezvous will feature about a dozen traders along Trader’s Row extending out the north gate of the reconstructed post. The traders will feature their usual array of furs and handcrafted items for sale. A number of re-enactors will demonstrate a variety of 19th century fur trade skills including blacksmithing, beaver skinning, brain tanning, bow making, and flint knapping.

The 22nd annual Rendezvous Run will take place Saturday morning at 9:00 (CDT). The event is sponsored by the American State Bank and will include 11K and 5K runs a 5K walk and a “one-mile” fur trader’s run/walk.

Kills Small is an Oglala Sioux. Jerome’s great grandfather’s name was Old Man Afraid of His Horses. He had four sons; Young Man Afraid of His Horses, Red Star, Black Mountain Sheep and Clown Horse. Red Star is the father of Jerome’s Mother. Old Man Afraid of His Horses chose his son’s names by experiences he had during Hanbleceya (vision quest ceremony) at Grey Horn Butte (known as Devil’s Tower).

Come and spend the day at Rendezvous. Admission is FREE. A concession will provide food and drink for sale on site.

Rendezvous hours are from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm CDT Thursday through Saturday at Fort Union. Fort Union Trading Post is located 24 miles north of Sidney, Montana and 25 miles southwest of Williston, North Dakota, via highway 1804. While here, visitors are encouraged to tour the reconstructed fort, trade room and bourgeois house.

 

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