News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A group of Civil War-era re-enactors gave visitors a glimpse of the early history of the region at Camp Polk Meadow Preserve on Saturday, August 4.
The re-enactors portrayed an advance scouting party for Company "A," First Oregon Volunteers, the army contingent that established Camp Polk in 1865 to protect the builders of the Santiam Wagon Road.
The allegedly marauding Indians never materialized and the camp was abandoned after the 1865-66 winter. However, the site became a homestead and the location of a Post Office and was the seed from which the community of Sisters eventually grew.
The re-enactment was conducted as part of Sisters' summer-long Centennial celebration, and was sponsored by the Deschutes Basin Land Trust and Paulina Springs Book Company.
The Land Trust controls the land along Squaw Creek as a conservation area. Docents gave talks on the future of the site, including efforts to restore the creek in the area.
The re-enactors, whose "living history" portrayals serve as a kind of archaeological exploration of the past, entertained and educated visitors with explanation of the accouterments and living conditions of the mid-19th Century soldier.
A young boy enjoyed the opportunity to handle a muzzleloading Springfield rifle, while a re-enactor explained the tactical techniques of the era.
The soldiers endeavored to stay "in character" in their presentations, speaking in the present tense in explaining their mission and experiences (see sidebar below).
They were, however, willing to have a little fun with the circumstances, commenting on the "citizens" who were scandalously underdressed (by their Victorian Age standards) and refusing to credit a newspaper correspondent's insistence that a cell phone was a form of telegraphic device.
(The soldiers concluded that the reporter was "touched.")
The re-enactors have built up considerable knowledge, not only about the events of the era, but also about the day-to-day way of life of the people who lived the history -- what they ate, how they thought, what they wore and the ailments to which their rough lives subjected them.
They come from all around the state, drawn together by a passion for a deeper understanding of history. They conduct re-enactments on a regular basis and participate in competitive shoots with period weaponry.
Through sharing their interests, they give the moderns -- short pants and cell phones and all -- a unique glimpse of a diffe rent era and way of life in the days when the foundations of our current life were being laid.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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