Macktown Frenchman’s Frolic Oct. 19 & 20

Macktown Frenchman’s Frolic Oct. 19 & 20

By Janine Pumilia

Macktown Living History will stage one of its two largest annual events on Oct. 19 & 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Although Frenchman’s Frolic, a pre-1850s Rendezvous Camp, is geared for reenactors, the public is welcome to come and observe the goings-on at no charge.

The other major event, called The Gathering, takes place in early summer and is focused on demonstrating aspects of 1800s settler life to the public.

“Most of the reenactors who come to Frenchman’s Frolic are pretty knowledgeable about this time period and are happy to chat and interact with the public,” says Mike Bost, event founder/coordinator and vice president of the Macktown Living History Board of Directors.

Reenactors come from a four-state area and set up their camp on the beautiful Macktown Living History site at the confluence of the Rock and Pecatonica Rivers, 2221 Freeport Road in Rockton. They enjoy shooting black powder guns, throwing tomahawks, making period crafts and competing with one another in games and contests.

The public is welcome to join them for seminars like “The ‘49ers,” about the fortune-seekers who pushed west in the late 1840s. Also, a presenter will share the adventures of “Mad Anne” Baily, a real-life scout and spy who took part in Colonial American Indian Wars.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase, including period drinks like sarsaparilla (root beer) and cream soda.

Bost founded and named the event some 30 years ago. He says “Frenchman’s Frolic” is a nod to the French-Canadian voyageur fur traders who plied our rivers in the 1700s and early 1800s.

“‘Frolic’ is a French word that just means social gathering,” says Bost, whose own ancestry is French. “The hunters and trappers would rendezvous periodically to trade news and goods, and to drink and socialize with each other.”

A mason contractor by trade, Bost is a reenactor who often demostrates his blacksmith skills around the region.

Settlers began putting down roots in the Rock River Valley in the late 1820s and Stephen Mack Jr. was perhaps the earliest. A Vermont native, whose father co-founded Pontiac, Mich., he arrived in the 1820s and traded here and at Fort Dearborn (later called Chicago) before marrying 15-year-old native Hononegah (who was not a princess, contrary to local lore). They had eight children and together founded the city of Pecatonic, later dubbed Macktown, at the confluence of the Rock and Pecatonica rivers, in 1835. Macktown was abandoned after the Macks’ premature deaths, and was swallowed up by Rockton, which was founded by the Talcott family of pioneers.

Listed on the Register of Historic Places, and located on property owned by the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County, the Macktown Living History site includes the original framed home of Mack Jr. and Hononegah, their gravesite, the original limestone Whitman Trading Post and the reconstructed Sylvester Stevens home, with its woodworking shop, granary and schoolroom.

There’s also a beautiful education center containing archaeological artifacts related to the site. All buildings will be open during Frenchman’s Frolic.

Macktown Living History is an allvolunteer, not-for-profit group working to restore Macktown to how it looked in its 1840s heyday. Annual membership starts at $15 per individual. More volunteers are always welcomed.

Year-round monthly Second Sunday events feature themes like All About Fiber, Cooking with Cast Iron, Horse- Drawn Plowing and Ice Cutting.

Archaeology is another way to be involved at Macktown Living History. There are summertime adult and kids’ digs and the Three River Archaeological Society regularly presents speakers.

Historic Persona Classes are offered at Macktown, providing practical tips on how to develop an outfit and character appropriate to the early settlement and pre-settlement eras.

Field trips, group tours and handson workshops for schools, scouts, 4-H groups and others can be arranged. Offsite programs are available upon request.❚