Revenant on the Kootenai

The recent Academy Award-nominated movie, “The Revenant,” is an adaptation of the real life story of an epic journey experienced by fur trapper Hugh Glass in 1872. Left for dead, buried in a shallow grave by two of his comrades, he survived and without provisions or weapons managed to crawl and stumble more than 100 miles of mountain, river and forest to the nearest known settlement.

For area participants, hired to use their jet boats to haul film crews, camera gear and equipment for an intense three days of shooting, it was another kind of epic adventure all its own. Two of those interviewed were Tom Mackey, who with his son Thomas, run Northwest Tree & Reclamation. Tom currently owns two Custom Weld jet boats, each powered by Chevrolet’s Marine Power 350 Vortex engines. Partly due to his participation in 1997 with the filming of “The River Wild” on the same waters along with recommendations from other consultants, Tom and friends were hired to run the film crews on the Kootenai from Troy to the Kootenai Falls.

Think About It

You work a river as part of your profession. You are on the water for any number of reasons: You harvest from it, you measure it, analyze it, care for it and clean it up on occasion. The river is the main part of your life by choice.

The co-workers who joined Tom were Kootenai Tribe biologist, Gen Hoyle, and Idaho Forest Group parks manager, Sarah Richardson. Both were hired as boat captains. Thomas Mackey also joined Aitken of the Kootenai Tribe. Hoyle works basin-wide from Wardner, BC, down river through Montana into the Kootenai River Valley of the Panhandle and north on the river well past the Canadian border at Port Hill. She monitors the river for its chemistry and general water health.

In “The Revenant,” Hoyle saw her role as basically “the gopher gal” − go for this, go for that. Her critical participation included hauling cast and crew members, expensive camera gear and safety equipment. With things in place, she was used for necessary runs if something came up. At one point, the stunt double lost his all-important headband in the water and Hoyle had to make a timely run down river to retrieve another one made to look like the one lost and get it back up to the camera scene before dark.

If you’ve looked into the making of “The Revenant,” you’ll know that “Cheevo,” the crew’s nick name for Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, is a detail-oriented filmmaker who likes to shoot in available light. To accommodate, Tom Mackey, Hoyle and Richardson had to run the river in the dark or fast-fading light at best, then upload or offload all the gear. Not an easy job.

Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars on the Water

Boat captains are charged with holding camera men in critical positions for long hours of careful filming. River rapids were not designed to hold a boat still for delicate camera work. Richardson may have had the most challenging task as captain of the primary camera boat, a 28-foot Custom Weld mounted with a heavy off-balance camera boom. Being in that elite seat is not only thrilling but exhausting as well. Both Richardson and Tom Mackey expressed how tired they were from those lengthy days of high stress and dangerous situations carrying expensive payloads.

The Kootenai River is tough water in places, running swiftly over shallow rocks, some visible only to a practiced eye. A boat damaging collision can throw cameras and other equipment including people into the treacherous drink, so one can imagine what goes through the mind of a jet boat captain. But according to some, Richardson, Tom Mackey and Hoyle were rock stars in their professional service of award-worthy scenes.

Then You Go Home in the Dark

Running shallow water rapids and gravel bars in daylight is one thing, but after dark it’s a whole new ballgame. You’re tired at the end of the day, but like the duties of a river guide, your work is not over until every piece of equipment and every man, warrior and stunt double are wrapped up safely in the vehicles for the long drive home.

Sound like a dream job? Maybe. In retrospect, all those with whom I talked had a terrific time. The movie makers were great to work with and appreciated the Kootenai River environment for its rugged and pristine wild nature.

On the American Indian Side

Rex Aitken made good friendships with the British Columbia American Indians hired to act as Arikara warriors. They were Plains Indians, excellent horsemen but not equipped by experience to portray the correct way of shooting flint-headed arrows on natural wood bows at escaping mountain men. That’s where archer Aitken came in shining. I visited him at his house not far from Mackey’s place and there saw a true craftsman and expert archer at work building genuine primitive bows with elk sinew, flint-tipped arrows and all, the same way it was done on wild game. Historically, the warriors also would have had to deal with enemies in the distance.

I came away with total respect and appreciation for Aitken’s immense contribution to the accuracy of our American Indian historical record. When he draws a bow, there’s no waiting to aim. His arrows fly straight to their mark as soon as the sinew string reaches his cheek, time and again in small groups.

Boundary County is an outdoor playground of many masks. From serious elk hunting to the fantasies of movie-making, from the restoration of white sturgeon and burbot to monitoring a river for its health and lasting well-being. The folks mentioned here have shown what it takes to live in and enjoy this pristine native environment at its very best. Get to know them and others like them. You will find your life enhanced and made fuller with rich memories and meaning.

Dwayne Parsons is a Realtor for Century 21 Beutler & Associates of Coeur d’Alene working primarily in Boundary County. He can be reached by calling 208.290.2300.

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