In 1969 Dick Ganyo borrowed a rifle from Al Thompson to use at the ND state association shoot held at Cooperstown. He and Don Purpur attended the event together. While returning to Grand Forks from the shoot they decided that they should form a club. The first get-together was in Don’s basement. Don Purpur, Dick Ganyo, John Breidenbach, Al Thompson and Forey Flaagen attended.
It was decided to run an ad in the Grand Forks Herald City Briefs inviting anyone interested in muzzleloading to attend which was to become the first Coon 'n Crockett meeting. This meeting was held during the first part of June at the Lincoln Park Clubhouse, Grand Forks. The first shoot was held the first weekend in August of the same year though it was only a one day event. It became a two day event in 1973.
The movie "Jeremiah Johnson", released in 1972, inspired an interest in shooters as well as gun manufacturers to recreate the era. Thompson/Center started the production of their Hawken rifles around that same time. The first two in the area found their way into the hands of John "Bear" Breidenbach and Garald Gillies through the Sportsman’s Headquarters (now the Ski and Bike Shop), then run by life member Jon Dickson. They started with percussion rifles then went to flintlocks and even a matchlock, to be more nostalgic.
The charter members attending the first meeting were: John Breidenbach, Richard Ganyo, James Deitz, Forest K. Flaagan, Garald Gillies, Allyn Thompson, Clarence Mutscher, Donald Purpur and James Lambert. [Verna (Mrs. Jim) Lambert designed and drew the C'nC logo and painted the original canvas banner.]
In addition, when the club was officially chartered on July 5, 1973, Olav Aarsvold, Curtis Lande, Richard Skow, Lewis Seyler, and Charles Robertson were also members.
The names as they appear on the original charter:
Thanks to these fine men that blazed the trail for us to follow. Without them, there would be no Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders club today.
Since 1973, the Annual C'nC Shoot has evolved into one of the major shoots of the region, averaging a hundred or more registered shooters. Hundreds of onlookers (pilgrims and flatlanders) come just to watch and some join in on the fun. The club is family oriented and is continually growing with new members. There are C'nC members in several states and several members in Canada.
The Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders Club makes several public appearances each year at regional events. The Rendezvous Region Festival, Cavalier, ND, Catfish Days, East Grand Forks, MN, and Heritage Days in East Grand Forks, MN (where we have our own fully equipped old time blacksmith forge) are examples.
In 1993, Willard Scott of the NBC Today Show made an announcement for us advertising our Annual Shoot. In 1994 some of our club members were filmed for one of the "What a difference Today makes" segments that also aired on national television. The public all over the country is hearing more and more of the Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders.
April, 1996 the Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders Club is the first club in the region (and in the first few on the planet Earth) to become part of the World Wide Web of the Internet. Hopefully, with the new exposure, we will not only help interest newcomers to the sport but will be able to further promote the club.
October, 1996 President Bill Fuehrer creates the official position of "Webmaster". Neal L. "Doc" Martin, the original creator of the CnC web site is appointed Webmaster.
March 30, 1998 the Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders Club registered the domain name Coon-n-Crockett.org so they would have a permanent home page location on the Internet. The CnC has become the Internet's Premier Muzzle Loading Information Center. The CnC is home to the "Almost Complete List of Muzzleloading and Buckskinning Links" which has proven to be a great resource not only to our own members but to everyone with a similar interest on the Internet worldwide. Doc Martin continues to serve as the Webmaster.
