River Junction Trade Company was founded in 1973, making it the oldest company of its kind still in business today. We produce 19th century dry goods with a strong emphasis on the Old West. In 2013 we will be celebrating our 40th year of servicing the historic, re-enactment industry with our 19th century dry goods business. Linda and I and our great sales team look forward to many, many more great years to be had in this business.
Other businesses recently have come on the scene and have directly copied many of our items, but we remain the most complete catalog of its kind today. Due to the fact that we design and produce most of our period-correct items ourselves, we are able to offer many custom features not offered by others. Our quality, price, selection, and authenticity are second to none.
My entire adult life has been -- and still is -- spent in research that has proven out in the many authentic items we produce, or in the daily phone conversations I have with customers and friends. This business is my hobby, my lifestyle and my only business. Therefore, I do give it -- and you -- my complete attention.
I would enjoy having you stop in my store to visit with me if you ever get this way. I operate my business and live in historic McGregor, Iowa, a beautiful hilly area that has a lot of interesting local and early state and national history behind it. Also known as the "Pocket City", McGregor is nestled in between river bluffs and deep gorges on the left bank of the Mississippi River across from beautiful, historic Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
Surrounded by high bluffs, hills, and rivers of the Driftless Area Wildlife Refuge, bald eagles abound along the 261-mile Upper Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Refuge, whose headquarters and educational fish and wildlife displays are located right in McGregor. McGregor is within minutes of the all-around best camping, recreational areas, and trout fishing in the Yellow River State Forest. Effigy Mounds National Monument contains Indian Burial sites with mounds in the shapes of animals. Pikes Peak State Park has its scenic camping areas on the ridge tops, hiking and biking nature trails, and Indian Burial mounds besides walking paths. While not quite as high as the more-famous peak in Colorado, "Pikes Peak" in McGregor, Iowa is the first peak Lt. Zebulon Pike claimed when he scouted for the U. S. Army securing fort locations in the early 19th century following the Louisiana Purchase.
From Pikes Peak, you can see across the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Wisconsin River. This confluence point is exactly where Marquette's and Joliet's canoes traveled down the Voyageur's Highway and entered the Mississippi River in 1673, making them the first Europeans to set foot on land this far west in the "Far West". And also it is the specific "river junction" for which I named my business in 1973, exactly 300 years after this confluence was discovered.
The town of McGregor has many well-preserved mid-to-late 19th and early-20th century buildings, beautiful scenery, and friendly people. It attracts many people all year long, but the most colorful time of year is in the fall when the hills are ablaze with color. All seasons are special though. There are 20 antique and specialty shops and restaurants in the area that are open in the Spring, summer and fall, with the same number of quaint B&Bs and lodging locations open all year long.
River Junction Trade Co. is open all year 'round only by appointment, Monday through Saturday. If you do decide to come and visit my store call first so I can put another log in my ol' round oak stove. We can sit by its warmth and jaw about the Old West. Until then I wish you well.
Adios Compadres,
Jim
Here are a couple of videos to get to know us a little better.
Men's Store
Ladies' Store
Photos of our 1880s General Store
Photos of our Ladies Dress & Millinery Shop
Over the years, River Junction products have appeared in a number of motion pictures and stage productions. Please call us if you want to know, if available, the specific items used in these productions:
MOVIES:
2017 – “Godless” (TV)
2016 – “Flaked” (Netflix Series) – Staring: Will Arnett
2016 – “The Magnificent Seven” – Staring: Chris Pratt, Matt Bomer, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawk
2016 – “Free State of Jones” – Staring: Matthew McConaughey, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali
2016 – “Westworld” (HBO Mini Series) – Staring: Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton
2015 – “Vampire Diaries” (Season 7) – Staring: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder
2013 – “Angelica” (Web Series) 2013 – “The Day of the Gun” – Staring: Eric Roberts, Raw Leiba, Ladon Hart Hall
2013 - "The Lone Ranger" – Starring: Armon Hammer, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter
2012 – “American Horror Story” (Season 2 & 3)
2012 - "D’jango Unchained” – Starring: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Di Caprio
2012 - "Royal Pains” - Starring: Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo
2012 - "The Good Wife” – Starring: Julianna Margulies
2011 to 2012 - "Hell On Wheels” (AMC Cable TV Series, Seasons 2-5) – Starring: Anson Mount
2011 - "Cowboys and Aliens” - Starring: Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig
2010 - "True Grit”(Nominated for 10 Academy Awards) – Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper
2010 - "La Rue’s Vers L’or” (Trek for the Gold) or Gold Rush Reality Show Canada
2010 - "The Platinum Peacemaker” - Fade In Productions: Starring: Stephen Brodie, Cassie Shea Watson
2009 - "Wild Michigan” – Starring: D. J. Perry, Rance Howard
2009 - "The Light Keepers” – Starring: Richard Dreyfuss
2009 - "The Lightening Thief” (by Percy Jackson - Fox Films) – Starring: Logan Lerman
2008 - "Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town” – Starring: Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward, Bill McKinney, D. J. Perry
2008 - "Public Enemies” – Starring: Johnny Depp
2007 - "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” (HBO Epic Movie Event) – Starring: Aidan Quinn, Anna Pacquin, August Schellenberg
2007 - "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” – Starring: Brad Pitt
2007 - "Hallowed Ground” - Starring: Jamie Alexander, Ethan Phillips
2006 - "3:10 to Yuma” - Starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale
2008 - "Comanche Moon” (Prequel to Lonesome Dove) - Starring Val Kilmer
2005 - "September Dawn” - Starring: Terence Stamp, Trent Ford, Jon Voight, Lolita Davidovich, Dean Çain
2005 - "Seraphim Falls” – Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Anjelica Huston
2005 - "The Lone Ranger" (HBO Cable TV Series) – Starring: Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Powers Boothe
2005 - "Into the West” (Nominated for Golden Globe) – Starring: Matthew Settle, Josh Brolin, Gary Busey
2005 - "Little House on the Prairie” (movie) – Starring: Kyle Chavarria, Cameron Bancroft, Erin Cottrel
2005 – “Deadwood” (HBO Series)
2003 - "Sea Biscuit” – Starring: Jeff Bridges
2003 - "The Alamo” – Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric
2003 - "The Missing” – Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer
2003 - "Dreamkeeper” (Won Prime-time Emmy) – Starring: Victoria Aberdeen
2003 - "Monte Walsh” – Starring: Tom Selleck
2002 - "Open Range” – Starring: Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner
2001 – “The Claim” – Staring: Peter Mullan, Milla Jovovich, Wes Bentley Nastassja Kinski
2001 - "Crossfire Trail” – Starring: Tom Selleck
2000 - "The Virginian” – Starring: Mark Harmon, Bill Pullman
2000 - "Shanghai Noon” – Starring: Jackie Chan
1997 - "Peacemaker” (TV Series) – Starring: George Clooney
1997 - "Last Stand at Saber River” – Starring: Tom Selleck
1997 - "Titanic” – Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio, Kate Winslet
1993 to 1998 - "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” (TV Series) – Starring: Jane Seymour
1990 - "Back to the Future III” – Starring: Michael J. Fox
1989 - "Lonesome Dove” – Starring: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones
OPERAS:
Florida Grand Opera - Oakland Park, FL
Glimmer Glass Opera - New York City
Juilliard School - Lincoln Center Plaza - Costume Shop - New York City
Metropolitan Opera Company - New York City
Ohio Light Opera - Wooster, OH
Opera Australia - Surrey Hills - New South Wales, Australia
The Canadian Opera - Toronto, Canada
Washington National Opera - Washington, D. C.
THEATERS:
Barrow Street Theater - San Jose, CA
The Color Purple - Atlanta, GA
Dallas Theater Center - Dallas, TX
The Goodman Theater - Chicago, IL
Lookingglass Theatre - Chicago, IL
San Jose Repertory Theater - San Jose, CA
The Shakespeare / Costume Shop - Madison, NJ
Taproot Theater Company - Seattle, WA