History binds gunpowder group

To honor the days of the old west and the history of the mountain man, a local group has started up. They call themselves the Clark Fork Valley Traditional Black Powder Group. It was started in late August 2020 by Richard Cotte. Along with others in the county, Cotte wanted to find a way to get together locally with those who share an interest in traditional firearms and the history surrounding them. “A lot of the importance is to keep interest in the hobby alive,” said Cotte, “a lot of the core group is aging out, and without more younger interest and diversified interest the hobby could be lost.”

According to Ted Hogland, another with similar interests who attended the meeting, has lived in the area for many years and said there used to be a black powder group in the area. He explained that there used to be a big rendezvous (mountain man get-together event) in the county, but the group died down. Cotte and others like him, wanted to start up a local black powder shooting group, as many of the organized shoots currently available require Sanders County residents to drive long distances out of the county. The closest of these events is held by a group out of the Flathead.

The Thompson Falls area is thick with trapper and mountain man history. Thompson Falls is named after great trapper, trader and explorer David Thompson, who had a trading post in the area. There is also a display at the Old Jail Museum that focuses on the early history of the area, trappers and mountain men.

Members of the traditional black powder group got together for the first time Saturday to meet and shoot. Tomahawks and knives were thrown, powder was burned and the crack of metal targets could be heard throughout the National Forest draw in which the meeting was held. Several who attended dressed in historic costume, and firearms from several historic periods were displayed, all of which used black powder as the propellant. According to Cotte, “I want us to stick to weapons and history up to the 1880s.” Cotte explained that guns and equipment from any later would get away from the spirit of traditional black powder. Though that year seems late, and the majority of the guns brought Saturday during the shoot were patterned after firearms from earlier than 1830, cartridge guns up to the 1880s would still have utilized black powder.

The meeting was attended by around 10 both women and men and of all ages. One participant new to black powder, 15-year-old Jim Hanson, fired his first flintlock and was taught to throw knives, trade axes and tomahawks. “I have got to get me a few of these,” he said after a few minutes of throwing.

The group can be found on Facebook under the name Clark Fork Valley Traditional Black Powder, and they plan on holding several more shoots and possibly having regular meetings. For more information, call Cotte at (406) 439-3999.