Crazy Cyot, Story Teller Of The Fur Trade

Howdy! Welcome to our camp. Sit down and have a cup. Take a look around , enjoy your stay.
Oh by the way don't mind the dog he does that to every body.
The Names Crazy Cyot.  Got that name laid on me back in the seventies when I was livin in my Teepee in Soda Springs Idaho for  two years with a Coyote and a few other critters. The town folks thought I was plum Crazy for livin in a Teepee in that cold country and thought bein's how I got along with that

Coyote so well I must be part Cyot my self , or somethin!
The name give me at birth was Roy Hansen but to all them that knows me, I'm Crazy Cyot. Why even my own Mammy calls me Crazy, course she knows me better then most!
 This here be my trail and camp partner, Stargazer. I'd tell ya how she got that name but I like's livin too much. She also goes by the name of Jill. A feller couldn't ask for a better trail partner. She tans hides, does bead and quill work, sets camp up, gets the fire wood,
pulls  the winter camp in on the toboggan , Yep she rides the trails with me in all seasons. Yes sir I be one lucky trapper in that regard. If ya are in need of some training for your camp partner, trainin  and  a breakin comes at a mighty dear price! Then after ya get them broke ya got to try and keep up with them, just to try and "save face." If some of you wimen are a lookin for a group that does this type of stuff, have a look at Women of the Fur Trade they be ones to be doing it right.

I have been studying the history of the west specially that of the fur trade from 1800 to 1840  for 30 years now. Researching the types of tools, equipment, dress, foods and ways of the original Mountain Men, you might say has been my life's pursuit.
Stargazer has been with me for 13 of those years. Only her research has been more on the Native Americans. She had been at it for 4 years before we met.  
For us getting out on the trail, learning and using our skills in a pre 1840 fashion has been the most enjoyable for us.
Now I'm not sayin we ain't had us a time or two at some of the rendezvous we've been to or put on over the years. Why it's always good to see old friends and make new ones.  To have a look in them Traders tents to see what fufaraw they got to taunt ya with. Or to go out on the range and burn some powder and come night fall to sit around a fire and share a drink or two, listening to some fine music. Yupper them rendezvous can provide ya with some shinin times and that's for sure.
But what we enjoy more is to be out on the trail horse back, with our camp being only what we can carry on the horse we're ridin, supplimentin our trail rations with what mother nature can legally provide us along the way.  
Getting out and doing the things they did, trappin, huntin and fishin, traveling on horse back and some times on foot or by water. Learning to identify and use the native plants for food and medicine as they would have.  All these things being done in as close to a pre 1840 style as possible helps to teach us the skills they needed. Heck, even some of the trails we ride in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana are in Griz country,  the only thing we're missin is ta have to keep an eye out for the Blackfeet. Now that's what I call getting a taste of the trappers life.  Waugh!  For Rocky Mountain doins.
Come winter when the snow gets too deep for the horses that's when we strap on the snow shoes, load up the camp on the toboggans, and head out.  There ain't nothin like doin a deep winter camp to test ones gear and winter campin skills.  Not to mention the skill it takes to handle a loaded toboggan on snow shoes. The landscape takes on a whole different beauty in these here Rockies come winter.
We try to get out and do as many camps as we can in all the different seasons  to experience it all and to get a feel of what it was like to live back then year around as they did.   
We have gone through some changes in our outfits and gear over the years as our research progresses and new information has come to light or lessons on the trail have showed us where we had made mistakes. For us this has been a natural process for as you learn, you grow and with growth comes change.
I joined the American Mountain Men back in 98 and a finer group of men I've never met. For us it has been very rewarding to be involved with a group that has the same interest as us.
  What we will be trying to do at our camp is to share some of our camps and experiences with you in text and photos and share with you how we do things.  We will be sharing some of our research with you too in articles. As for the history and doing research on the Fur trade, I recommend you to have a look at the AMM site.
Dean Rudy and the brothers have put together a very good site with a wealth of information that we see no need to try and duplicate here.
This camp will be a project that we in tend to keep adding to and changing as time goes on so come back from time to time and see what's new.

See ya on the trail
Crazy Cyot & Stargazer
Contact me by Email at: gazeingcyot@cs.com
Or phone: 208-897-5929
At your service by mail: 1567 W Hawkins Rd. Arimo, Idaho 83214