Muzzleloaders show ways of the West

Coyote pelts repel snow, beaver tails are a tasty dinner and a foot in a bear trap can mean life or death.

These and other details about the daily lives of fur trappers who helped open the West were presented to children Thursday at the Community Memorial Museum of Sutter County. With authentic costumes and equipment, the Sierra Muzzleloaders let kids try on pelts, displayed hunting tools and demonstrated fire-starting with the most basic of ingredients.

"Lots of historical stuff happened during this time," said Yuba City resident Heath Stedman, 11. "They traded with Indians, worked with Indians to find food. The Native Americans taught them a lot."

He watched a fire start from some twine, tar and a single spark and said it was "pretty cool." He was fascinated to look at the guns, noting that different weapons had to be used for elusive animals.

Stedman wouldn't mind going back in time, but not forever.

"I want to see what the experience would be like for about a week," he said.

His 6-year-old brother, Dylan Stedman, was not sure about even a short stint.

"I like power," he said. "There was no TV back then."

Yuba City resident Rich Bull regaled the kids with stories about famous mountain men like Joseph Walker and Jim Beckwourth, and explained how to use traps to snare muskrats, coyotes and other creatures for food.

Beavers were wanted more for their pelts than as a food source, he said, but some hungry men would take their tails off, brown them over a fire, peel back the charred parts and eat a handful of the fat, Bull explained.

"If you are hungry, it works," he said. "It tastes like chicken by then."

Bull said he likes to teach kids history, and he's been doing so for nearly two decades with the Muzzleloaders.

"Some of them may become buckskinners and some may not but it's something I hope they learn," he said.

Finally, to the children's delight, the Muzzleloaders men fired off blank rounds from the guns from which they get their name. They showed the kids how to measure out a powder charge and pack everything in tight, then turned their guns north and pulled the triggers for an explosive crack.

"I hunt, so I'm used to modern shotguns when I go duck or deer hunting," said Caleb Crother, 11. "I think these are pretty cool."

The Yuba City boy's grandmother takes him and his 9-year-old sister, Hannah Crother, to see the Muzzleloaders every year and his understanding is growing, he said.

"This year in fifth grade we are learning about the Oregon Trail, so I know all about this," Caleb said.

Hannah said she learned about Native Americans in her third-grade class at Franklin Elementary, but seeing real artifacts up close was practically jaw-dropping. Her eyes went wide as Yuba City resident Cherokee Phillips explained how he handcrafted his breastplate out of bone hair pipes, buffalo teeth and a medicine wheel of dyed porcupine quills.

"It's pretty cool to see what your ancestors did and how we live now," Hannah said.

Yuba City residents D.J. Ornelas and Vidur Dewan, both 17, were volunteering at the museum and decided to come out for a look. Life as a mountain man would be an adventure, but they weren't so sure they could give up modern amenities.

"Maybe if I could take a vacation back in time I'd do it," Ornelas said. "It seems like a lot of work, how to survive hunting and gathering, having to actually work for your food instead of buying it at a store."

Caleb Crother loves to hunt but also wasn't sure he wanted the fur trappers' way of life.

"I'm not saying I'm a gadget guy 'cuz I like the outdoors,' Caleb said. "But I'd miss modern technology."