The Runge Conservation Nature Center saw a steady stream of visitors Saturday morning, despite rain that moved in late morning.
The center hosted a special event Saturday on Missouri in the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Runge Center Manager Kevin Lohraff said the event celebrates the state's bicentennial by telling the story of its role in the trade in the early 1800s and combining history, conservation and outdoor skills.
Outdoor activities included tomahawk throwing and flint/steel fire starting. Bruce Berger volunteered at the tomahawk throwing station. While most of the activities and exhibits are tied to specific lessons, Berger said this particular one was meant to be more of a fun activity for children. It's not often most children are allowed to throw dangerous weapons at a target, he said. However, he noted, the tomahawk was typically used by mountain men of the early 1800s to hunt bison, as it was particularly useful in breaking bones.
The activity was farther from the center itself, within the Forest Fun Area. Several young boys took turns with the tomahawks late Saturday morning, as three adults, including Berger, closely supervised and helped. Berger said the goal was to teach good technique as well as safety protocols. By late morning, Berger said the weather had mostly cooperated, though rain was beginning to fall more steadily. That didn't stop more families from arriving to take a turn at throwing a tomahawk.
Megan Davis brought her two young boys, ages 4 and 7, to check out the activities. She said the boys had thrown tomahawks and had been a little worried about trying it. Their favorite part, she said, was right out front.
"They really liked the keelboat," Davis said.
In front of the Runge Center, the Keelboat Muskrat was on display with several men portraying mountain men of the period ready to talk about the Muskrat and its journey.
The boat was a half-scale replica of a typical keelboat of the early 1800s, said Brian Flowers, a Runge supervisor. The boat was part of an epic re-creation of a 19th-century journey taken on by a group in 2019 called Ashley's Return.
The name refers to the 1825 journey of William Ashley, the first lieutenant governor of Missouri, from Henry's Fork, near Utah, back to St. Charles, Missouri.
Flowers said the boat on display went more than 750 miles down a flooded Missouri River, finishing an incredible journey that started on horseback and moved to bull boats. He noted the keelboat, along with the three men who did the entire journey in 2019 from Utah to St. Charles, will be at the Missouri State Fair in August.
In addition to the outdoor activities, the Runge Center had several programs and exhibits inside, including talks on the early Rocky Mountain fur trade, videos on the lives of mountain men and various rivertowns, and touch tables with pelts common during that period.
The goal of Saturday's event was to kick off the fur trade exhibits at the Runge Center, Flowers said, which will be on display for six months. He said he hopes the event and exhibits will help raise awareness of the period, the individuals involved and Missouri's place in the westward fur trade.