During the Great Depression, History Colorado hired unemployed artists through the Works Progress Administration to do many tasks, including create dioramas. These images are from the Winter Camp, Summer Rendezvous, and River Trading dioramas created between 1934 and 1941.

Mountain men needed to take care of their gear to survive long winters

Diorama, A Winter Camp 4

Diorama, A Winter Camp 2

Diorama, A Winter Camp 8

Diorama, A Winter Camp 6

Diorama, A Winter Camp 7

Diorama, A Winter Camp 5

Diorama, Summer Rendezvous 1

Diorama, Summer Rendezvous 2

Diorama, Summer Rendezvous 3

History Colorado

Diorama, Fur Trapping and Trading

Mountain men came from all over the world to trap beaver and trade with American Indians. It was not uncommon to find African American, Mexican, Russian, Scottish, German, French, or Canadian mountain men.

Mountain men trapped throughout the winter when beaver fur was the thickest.

Mountain men hunted bison and elk for food and relied on dried meat and pemmican, a mixture of dried meat, fruit, and fat, to get them through lean times.

Trappers set up temporary winter camps in places like South Park and North Park, Colorado. From there, trappers could access beaver and game to eat.

The real-life adventures and tall tales of mountain men captured the imagination of people in eastern cities.

Summer rendezvous were great trade fairs. Merchants arrived with wagon loads of goods and luxury items to get trappers through the winter.

Rivers were the forerunner to highways. They brought people west and allowed them to transport goods.

Trading with American Indians was a central part of the fur trade. American Indians were experienced and efficient hunters who traded furs for manufactured goods.

Bull boats were made out of hide stretched over willow frames. As tough as wooden canoes (which were rare because trees were scarce on the plains) they could easily transport a load of beaver plews on the West's shallow rivers.

This canoe, a rarity on the eastern plains, probably came up the river from St. Louis.

Trappers packed goods with them into the mountains for the winter, and brought beaver plews and other skins out with them in the spring.

Mountain men stretched beaver pelts over willow hoops, called plews. Once dried, they were compressed into 50-pound bundles for easy travel.

Standards for Trapping and Trading: A Diorama

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework