The gallery page will display a variety of images relating to Mark's presentations, adventures and activities.
Mark and Larry Spisak landing a birch bark canoe on the shores of Lake Superior at Grand Portage in August, 09:
Taken in August, 09 at Grand Portage, Minnesota, by the shore of Lake Superior, just before canoeing the Lake in a birch bark canoe
This is from the front page of the Duluth News Tribune in the early nineties. What you are looking at is a fur trade bateau that our reenacting group built in my garage. It is 22 feet long and required a blueprint that was to scale (22 ft long) and took one year to build. The building materials include: tamarack, white pine, white ash and oak. Some modern tools were used, but not many. The oars are hand carved and the whole bateau is hand-caulked with period fiber. The boat floated well and had no leaks. We have used this on a few of our river and lake trips.
Right before we launched a our hand-made boat we took a moment to pose. From left to right: John Beltman, Duane Bishoff, John Hayes, Dan Bergerson, Len Clark, myself, Gene Shadley and Rick Balen
Myself, coming home from the woods on Mandy, my faithful part quarter horse and Arabian mare mix. Longhunters like Boone traveled and packed quite a bit with horses. The saddle I am using here is a hand-made one by Don Newsome and is copied after 18th century ones.
1998 at Prickket's fort in Morgantown, West Virginia. The man to the right of the horse is Gerry Barker and the one directly to the left is John Curry. Pricketts Fort was visited by Daniel Boone and other famous men of the 18th century frontier and is located on the Monongahela River.
My good friend Larry Spisak in 1998 looking towards Prickett's fort. The Monongahela River is right behind him.
Me, in 1998, overlooking the Monongahela river by Pricketts fort near Morgantown, West Virginia.
In the fall of 2006 John Hayes, Gene Shadley, Larry Spisak and myself took off on what was supposed to be a pleasant, fall canoe trip. What we actually ran into was an early taste of winter! The wind came up and the snow and rain came down. We ended up spending our time in a cedar swamp, protected from the wind, enjoying each others company, doing a little primitive hunting, some fine eating and great fellowship.
In the spiring of 2007 I spent a week at Ft. De Chartres, a large stone fort built in the 1750's. It is around 60 miles south of St. Louis, only on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river by the small town of Prairie Du Rocher. This was one of the main bastions of French defenses until the french were defeated in the French and Indian War. Today, it is preserved by the State of Illinois. Here I am applying rendered deer fat (tallow) to one of my favorite longrifles. This gun is a copy of an oringinal style long gun made by full-time gun builder Jack Hubbard.
Gerry Barker, Butch Houri and others enjoing a moment discussing the Second Great Awakening in Logan County, KY.
Here, John Hayes and I are enjoying a beautiful sunrise in between snow squalls. John and I have been friends for years. Friendships born in the woods around camfires and hunting adventures are precious and I have been blessed with a number of such friendships--an added bennifit to my journey to understand our frontier past. Notice how we used our birch bark canoe for part of our shelter.
Me, holding a flintlock shotgun nicely made by my good friend Gene Shadely.
My good friend Dan "Trapper" Bergerson and I share a moment expressing friendship.
Another good friend and mentor, Gerry Barker.
Close friend and another woods companion, Gene Shadley.
John Hayes and I shooting at an event in 2005.
Good friend, Dan (trapper) Bergerson at a recent gathering of The Upper Mississippi Alliance Of Adventureurs.
Good friend Don Newsome, another time traveler and fellow member of The Upper Mississippi Alliance of Adventureurs. Don usually depicts a Native American.
Back from a recent trip in birch bark canoes in the fall of 2006. From the left: Larry Spisak from West Virginia, Gene Shadley, myself and John Hayes--all from Minnesota.
In the footsteps of Boone and Kenton
2003 on the beautiful Big Sandy River in
West Virginia
Getting ready to speak in June of 2008 at the Red River Meeting house, the site where the Second Great Awakening started. The book I am looking at is a hand bound modern copy of an 18th century King James Bible. Put together by James Moore.
Two weary, modern longhunters return to the comfort of camp.
Note:
The frontiersmen (and women) of the 18th and 19th century depended on hunting in part to provide food for the table. As an experimental archeologist, I have used firearms that were common to that time period and just as our forefathers did, I use the meat, hide and fats from animals I kill. Most of the leather in my equipment and clothes comes from game I have taken. I have cooked with rendered bear fat, used rendered deer fat for dressing leather, and patch lubricant for my rifle. Native Americans used rendered bear fat for cooking and as the base for thier "make up", that is to paint their faces and bodies. Renedered bear fat is also used as a base for medicine. Daniel boone was quite a bear hunter. In one season, he brought over 130 bear skins into market. In addition, he broungt in barrels of rendered bear fat and even smoked the hams. Bacon made from bear is the best I have ever eaten. The following pictures show a sample of game I have taken with traditional firearms. I take hunting very seriously and only shoot when I feel I can take the animal quickly and humanly and I do not waste any part of the animal! I am letting the veiwer know this in case you prefer not to see the following images.
FRONTIER HUNTING:
There was quite a large herd of buffalo east of the Mississippi in the 18th century. This one was taken in the early nineties. The firearm I am holding is a .62 flintlock smoothbore.
Wild boar taken in the mid nineties with a flintlock smoothbore. The meat was excellent!
This smaller bear was taken about 600 yards from the north shore of Lake Superior with a .54 caliber lancaster flintlock rifle. The bear had been tearing up some apple trees in the back yard of one of my father's friends. This bear could not be pursaded to leave by other means. Again, the meat was excellent.
One of the first blackpowder deer kills taken in the "early" days of my historical journey. Located in the North shore area of northern Minnesota, Tait Lake is in the backround and my father's cabin is not far away. It actually rained a few hours before this picture was taken and the ramrod swelled enough in my rifle that I could not extract it to reload. Good thing this deer died quickly.
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