HALSTEAD — The barter economy was alive and well, as Boy Scouts from four states gathered in this south-central Kansas town for the 25th annual recreation of a mountain men's rendezvous.
Ten-year-old Josh Carroll of Hutchinson, for example, was looking to trade for rabbit pelts. The Webelos Scout's possessions, including a turkey foot and pocketknife, were spread out in front of him.
Quite a few "customers" had been asking about a small sheath knife he got in a trade, but Josh wasn't interested.
"It's pretty valuable, so I'm keeping it," he said.
In the 1800s, a rendezvous allowed trappers to trade their pelts for other goods and talk about their adventures. There were also contests of strength and skill, said Ed Bade, of Kingman County, chairman of the Quivira Council Boy Scouts of America Trappers' Rendezvous.
Milt Larsen of Wichita said the idea for the first rendezvous came when he and two others at a Scout meeting discovered that they were mountain-man buffs.
Despite a snowstorm, the first rendezvous drew a crowd of 111 Scouts and adults, Larsen said.
The event has grown over the years. As of midday Saturday, 3,334 Scouts and adults from 186 troops from all over Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, were registered for the event at Harvey County Park West near Halstead.
Trading was the theme of the weekend, but part of the purpose of the three-day event was to give Scouts the experience of winter survival camping.
"It's a really unique event, because we try to keep to early 1800s-type stuff," Bade said.
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