Our great 10th season kickoff program at the Nature Center featured Bernard de la Harpe aka Steven Dunlap, a time traveler from 18th century French Louisiana who conscripted us for one year for his historic fact-finding expedition in 1721. First he shanghaied the voyagers, men who had to build dugout canoes in one week to haul all the gear upriver against the current. They were bribed with the promise of a full ration of booze every day – many of us would have volunteered had we known! Next he rounded up hunters to harvest deer and bison and also traders to barter for food, moccasins, and information. Lastly he needed surveyors with compasses and some math skills to calculate distances, map the rivers, and make observations about the suitability of the land for colonization. 

Bernard, a real historical figure, seemed to be an able leader even though he was somewhat full of himself in his fancy getup with all the gold buttons. He expressed doubt about both our intelligence and our abilities – rude of him even if he was right! He did write a great journal of our adventure. Our trip lasted less than a year because we all got sick with the trots and some Indians took pity on us and we finally arrived home. Only one of us died, but the TrailBlazers won’t divulge this info in case the victim doesn’t realize his own demise.

Steven did a great job, was very funny, and displayed artifacts, both real and re-created, to help us visualize the time he lived in.