By Ted Fellowes

The Beginnings, Early Members & Events

Sometime in 1964, a notice was posted on the bulletin board of the Issaquah Sportsman’s Club suggesting the organizing of a muzzle loading club. Later that year, Bill Theno, a gun shop owner in Eastgate sent out post cards to the muzzle loading shooters he knew, announcing a meeting at his shop. About 18 or 20 people attended that first meeting. We decided to have a match at the Sportsman’s Club. About a dozen shooters showed up. We had another meeting, elected officers, and named the club the Cascade Mountain Men. At that time, we were the only muzzle loading club in Western Washington. There had been earlier groups that died out in the 1950’s.

After the first shoot, we continued monthly matches at the Sportsman’s range, while conducting meetings at Theno’s Gun Shop. After a few months, the powers that be at the Sportsman’s Club noticed something other than casual muzzle loading was occurring once a month. We were asked to meet with Sportsman’s Club Board. Nick Carter and I were appointed to meet with them. Initially, the board wanted to absorb our group, but we resisted that suggestion. We were afraid that we would loose our identity and have no control over our finances. We came to an agreement that preserved our club’s independence. The only requests from the board were that we not have matches during the fall hunter’s sighting-in period, and that we provide manpower for occasional work parties. By this time, we were having our monthly meetings at the range clubhouse.

Some of our early members, besides Nick Carter and myself, were Dick Armstrong, Stan Benson, Bob Harmon, Bill Theno, Neal Leibly (President), Jon Cundy, Bill Aiken, Jerry Bickler, Ron Swansen, Dennis McCandless, Cliff Lanigan, Jim Johnson, Pete Spieker, Hal Cole, Bill Walker, and Bill Williams.

We had monthly matches through the summer. When September rolled around we wanted a shoot, but the range was tied up. One of our members had a connection with Camp Kachess, east of Snoqualmie Pass. We had a two-day shoot, camp out and picnic. Probably 10 or 12 people attended. By November, we were back to our monthly routine (matches) and were beginning to attract a few new members. At first, we used the entry fees for cash prizes. We had complaints about this so we began giving merchandise prizes.

Rendezvous, The Club Grows and Incorporates

In 1966 we heard of a "Rendezvous" Memorial Day weekend near Bend, Oregon, sponsored by the McKenzie Raiders, a club out of Eugene. Several of us traveled down there to attend. We made a lot of new friends and gained ideas on improving our club.

The Cascade Mountain Men gathered steam and we acquired new members Omar and Mickie Susewind, Scotty Hoagland, Gene Erickson and Bill Modrell, a great hunter, maker of fine wine, and wood boat builder "par excellence".

In 1968 we incorporated as a non-profit organization, and welcomed new members Carl Buchenroth, Frank Straight, and Al Hunkeler. From 1966 to 1969 we had our fall rendezvous on the Little Naches River, east of Chinook Pass. We also held spring rendezvous new Hood Canal, and were attracting people from other clubs.

Washington State Adopts a Muzzle Loading Hunting Season

Around 1968 we began lobbying the State Game Department for our own muzzle loading hunting season. Oregon already had one. We wrote letters and attended game commission meetings. In the spring of ’69 our club sent two delegates to the Game Commission meeting held in Omak, Washington. The previous winter had been one of the worst on record, taking a terrific toll on the deer herds. So, when our people came back with the word that we were going to have a one week muzzle loading (only) deer hunt in Okanogan and Ferry counties, we were very pleased. Our efforts had paid off.

The hunt was Thanksgiving week. Most of us camped at Lyman Lake. Dick Armstrong took what was most likely the first deer ever taken in a Washington muzzle loading season. The next year, there were more hunters at Lyman Lake. The annual Lyman Lake hunt continued until 1978. The best year was ’73 when hunters took 23 deer.

More Rendezvous and Membership Growth

We were still having 2 rendezvous a year – spring and fall. Several in the spring were held at the Fraley Mt. Ranch near Arlington, WA. Fall rendezvous was at Camas Meadow near Blewett Pass, except for two years when fire danger forced us to move to the West side of the mountains. Due to the situation, we decided to have the Camas "rondy" in the Spring, usually around the middle of May.

The Camas rendezvous continued until about 1987 when the property was sold. After that our rendezvous seemed to deteriorate. We tried several sites, but none had the charm of Camas. The Camas rendezvous was probably the largest single club event on the West Coast. At least 2 years we had attendance of around 1,000. Buckskinners came from as far as Montana, California, and British Columbia. We even had a couple of weddings.

More new members signed up in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s including, Mike Wasil, Bob Bowman, Mike Nesbitt, Bob Zimmerman, Derek Wolcott, Dave Dolliver, Tom & Jenny Wilson, John Abbot, and Dennis Dunleavy.

In 1998 and again in 2000 we co-sponsored a Rendezvous with another club, the Running Cayuse. The 3-day event was held at Lower Green Canyon, near Ellensburg. The two were quite successful and another joint rondy is planned at the same location for mid-June 2002. The club has recently agreed with Running Cayuse to make it an annual event.

The Muzzle Loading Gun Show Begins and Prospers

The Wenatchee Club probably had the first muzzle loading gun shows, followed by the Bremerton Brigade and Lewis and Clark at Vader. On the way home from a Vader show, a couple of our members discussed the possibility of the Mountain Men sponsoring one. Our first show was in early 1978 at the American Legion Hall in Burien. Every table was sold out and we had somewhere around 600 paid admissions. We had already outgrown our space, so for the next few years we had one-day shows at Kennedy High School, also in Burien. We wanted to expand to a 2-day show and couldn’t reach a satisfactory agreement with the school, so in 1985 we moved to the Kent Commons. Eventually, more traders wanted in, so we moved again, this time to the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup. After 3 years of unfulfilled promises for more space, we elected to move again to the King County Fairgrounds in Enumclaw. This has proven ideal for our shows. The exhibits fill three buildings. We have several outdoor tented exhibits, and we have lots of free parking. Fee camping is available for traders who come from far away. We expect we will be able to keep this location for years to come.

From all reports, the Cascade Mountain Men’s Muzzle Loading Arms and Pioneer Crafts Show is the best "traditional" muzzle loading show in the country, drawing traders from as far away as Alaska, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

A Lost Event Ripe for Renewal

For a number of years we had some great canoe outings, usually at Lake Kachess or Riffe Lake. We would pick a rendezvous spot and leave our vehicles at the landing and canoe into camp. Not much shooting but a lot of relaxed fun. Eventually that event fell by the wayside for lack of continuing interest. A pity, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

The Cascade Mountain Men Today and Our Future

Over the years our monthly matches have changed, as has our equipment. We usually have four 5-shot matches, some at 50 and some at 100 yards, with one at 25 once in a while. These count for the monthly aggregate totals. The fifth match changes each month, varying between pistol, trade gun, black powder cartridge rifle, hawk ‘n knife, or other whim of the range master.

We have a greater variety of rifles now than we did in the beginning, Thompson Center, Lyman, some of the better import guns, and custom guns. These include Pennsylvania and Ohio rifles, Hawkens, British Enfield, English Sporting Rifle, etc. Many of these are very fine owner built pieces too.

The Cascade Mountain Men is not as large an organization now as it once was. When we started in 1964 we were the only club in Western Washington. Now there are several clubs in the area and this has siphoned of some of our membership. We have about 60 dues paying members, of which a tight hard working core of 20 or so are actively and regularly involved in club activities (and work). After 35 years we’re still shooting monthly at the Issaquah Sportsman’s Club (on the National Register of Historic Places). As we enter the 21^st century we are still going strong and looking to the future.

My Recollections

There are surely some omissions and no doubt a few mistakes, but when you’re twice as old as the club, the memories don’t always fall into place, as they should.

Respectfully submitted by Ted Fellowes