Video
Music of the Upper Missouri Fur Trade
Transcript
[BANJO AND FIDDLE MUSIC] Music has always been a means of expression and escape. Here at Fort Union during the mid 1800s, visitors and residents alike were provided music to dance to during balls and parties, while boatmen and travelers played tunes to pass the time on their long journey along the river. Mark Gardner and Rex Rideout perform a few songs that were popular during the fur trade era and may have been played here at Fort Union. Well we want to start with a song that you've heard of before. And going to give you an introduction to the music and sounds of the time that Fort Union was here, from the 1830s up through the 1860s. This particular song I know you've heard of before. It started out based on a piece called Fisher's Jig, and it was a popular nursery song that dates back to at least the 1760s, and eventually became known as Yankee Doodle. [MUSIC- "YANKEE DOODLE"] River transportation, including steamboats and riverboats, was essential to life at Fort Union. Well we want to do a song that celebrates those men, those boatmen, keelboatmen, people like Mike Fink and other legendary men on the rivers. It's called Boatmen's Dance. It was first published in 1843. [MUSIC- "BOATMEN'S DANCE"] (SINGING) Hey, ho, the boatmen row, floating down the river, the Ohio. Hey, ho, the boatmen row. Floating down the river to the Ohio. Dances and balls held at Fort Union were a reflection of eastern American social structure. Men and native women were dressed in the classic European style and performed waltzes and cotillions. The balls at Fort Union took place in the main hall in the Bourgeois House. And I just wanted to quote one account from a very important individual to Fort Union's history as well as its reconstruction, Rudolph Friederich Kurz, who was an accomplished artist. And they actually reconstructed the buildings based on his sketches. You can see some of his sketches when you go into the museum inside the Bourgeois House. But he left a very detailed account of life here, and he described one of the balls that was held at the Fort in 1851, probably in that big two-story house. I just want to quote this just briefly. "On Saturday evening, Denig gave a ball to which he invited many people who work here. We decorated the room as brilliantly as we could have with mirrors, candles, precious fur skins, and Indian ornaments. He himself had the hardest work of all because he was the only fiddler, and did not stop until everybody had tired himself out with dancing. Indian women and men were dressed according to European mode." [FIDDLE AND TAMBOURINE MUSIC] The jaw harp, or Jew's harp, was the only instrument found in the archaeological excavation of Fort Union, although Fort Union records show that other instruments such as the fiddle, bugle, violin, and clarinet were used here. The jaw harp is an instrument played using the tongue and teeth, and makes a high-pitched, twanging sound. There is a jaw harp available for view in the Fort Union visitor's center. Here, Mark Gardner demonstrates the jaw harp. [JAW HARP TWANGING] For a brief time in the 1860s, a regiment of Galvanized Yankees were stationed at Fort Union. Galvanized Yankees were captured rebel soldiers from the Civil War. They were released from prison camps under the agreement that they would provide protection to America's western frontier. Fort Union was in existence until 1867. During the Civil War there were troops over here. We had the Wisconsin Volunteers were at Fort Union for a time. But there was also a type of soldier called a Galvanized Yankee. They were rebel soldiers that got out of prison by promising to come out west and help to protect the frontier. And we want to do a song from the 1860s, published in 1862, was one of the more popular songs of the period. [BANJO AND FIDDLE MUSIC] Music played a small role in the history of Fort Union, and it provides us with a vivid idea of the lighter side to the fur trade. During your visit to Fort Union, picture the Bourgeois House lit with flickering candles on a cool evening. Fort Union employees and visitors are dressed in their finest outfits, while one of the Bourgeois, such as Alexander Culbertson or Edwin Denig, performs a riveting waltz on the fiddle. Thank you for visiting Fort Union. [BANJO AND FIDDLE MUSIC]
Description
Music was an important aspect of Fort Union’s social life. Here you can learn about period songs and instruments that commonly entertained employees and guests at Fort Union Trading Post.
Duration
6 minutes, 6 seconds
Credit
NPS / Emily Sunblade
Date Created
07/23/2010
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