Families visiting the Pioneer Craft Show will take a step back in time and see first hand how to load a pre-1840 firearm, how to spin a wool blanket and the many kinds of things blacksmiths made back in the day.
Visitors can talk to custom gun builders and peruse original and custom firearms and gun-building kits, explore feather and fur products, buy beads and how-to books from more than 300 traders and exhibitors from across the country.
The Pioneer Craft Show is Saturday and Sunday at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. It’s an event families enjoy for the history lessons and the live demonstrations, said Margaret Evenson, who does publicity for the Cascade Mountain Men.
Wool spinning, wood carving of American Indian masks and blacksmithing are among the live demonstrations families can take in.
“The blacksmith will be there all weekend making all kinds of things like spoons and roasting forks and you name it — he’ll make anything because it used to be that’s what the blacksmith did,” Evenson said. “Kids think it’s really neat and they learn that everything is not instant.”
Most of the demonstrators will be in period clothing as will the Civil War re-enactors.
There will also be displays of various kinds of gun accessories and shooting supplies and information on the themed shooting events held locally, on Whidbey Island and in Skagit County, Evenson said.
“You will see a little bit of everything, knives and tomahawks and all kinds of stuff to get an idea of what the mountain men traded for,” Evenson said.
The Cascade Mountain Men is a group that commemorates the fur trade, colonial America and the Civil War.
“It’s the biggest show of this type on the West Coast,” Evenson said.
The Pioneer Craft Show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds, 14405 179th Ave. SE, Monroe.
Admission is $5; ages 12 and under are free. Parking is free. For more information go to www.cascademountainmen.com.
Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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