The 31st annual A River Thru History – The Des Plaines Valley Rendezvous will be returning once again this year to Columbia Woods Forest Preserve in Willow Springs for a weekend filled with historic facts, recreation and fun.
Taking place at the intersection of Archer Avenue and Willow Springs Road, the event focuses on the re-creation of life in the Des Plaines Valley area during the Fur Trade era is sure to attract hundreds of people on Saturday, September 14, and Sunday, September 15.
The Rendezvous was the high point of the year for traders who battered supplies for furs with local tribes because it celebrates early history when explorers and voyageurs paddled the area waterways, and trappers and hunters lived near the river systems. During the Rendezvous, traders would get together to not only trade, but also to socialize, dance, sing, eat, drink, fight, trade, race canoes and basically take time to slow down and enjoy life.
Taking place in a beautiful wooded setting on the banks of the Des Plaines River, A River Thru History- The Des Plaines Valley Rendezvous will recreate what a rendezvous might have been like along the banks of the Des Plaines River before Chicago became a city.
Attendees can watch camp contests, like a skillet toss and historical fashion show. A colonial fife and drum corps will march through camp at various times to keep order.
Anyone who attends is also welcome to a ride in a Voyageur canoe down the river, have a chat with Chicago’s first resident, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable or hear Father Jacques Marquette read from his early journals written while exploring Illinois country in 1673.
For children, there will be plenty of interactive games from the time, storytelling and a trading post where kids could learn to barter with a fur trading company, throw a tomahawk and learn frontier skills from hunters, trappers, and voyageurs.
Big Run Wolf Ranch will be on-site on Sunday, showcasing several animals, as well.
The event is made possible and sponsored by the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor Civic Center Authority, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Heritage Corridor Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Tickets to attend can be purchased on the day of the event and cost $10 for adults, $5 for seniors (over 62) and children ages 6 to 17. Family day passes were available $25, and children under 6 years old are able to attend for free.