Bakersfield Breakaway: Stepping Back in Time at Fort Tejon
Bakersfield Breakaway: Stepping Back in Time at Fort Tejon
There's nothing more gratifying than watching a bloody battle over ham and cheese sandwiches.
On blankets and in lounge chairs, picnicking spectators enjoyed a Confederate victory in the Shenandoah Valley.
Actually, only the 1 p.m. show gave the South a victory; rumor had it that the Yankees won a 10:30 a.m. skirmish.
Volunteers from Southern California reenact battles of the Civil War at Fort Tejon six months out of the year.
They buy their own uniforms, camping equipment and weapons: these Civil War devotees purchase (or make) everything you see.
One woman I chatted with in the Confederate camp explained that the canvas tents double as motel rooms for the performers.
"You mean they actually sleep here the night before the shows?" I asked.
She assured me it was true, but confessed she slept in the back seat of her car Saturday night to avoid the bugs -- that's a battle she could do without.
Although the Civil War demonstrations run April through mid-October, Fort Tejon hosts other historical activities year round.
The Dragoon Era Program, for example, allows visitors to step into the year 1856 and experience life as
it was in this U.S. fort. Performed the first Sunday of every month, you can talk with the mess cook, witness a blacksmith forging iron or see women churning butter while their daughters cook bread in the kitchen.
The actors stay in character to answer your questions, and this may cause goose bumps occasionally when you forget what century it is.
My husband was impressed with the kid-friendly volunteers. As we wandered from Union to Confederate camps, a soldier showed rifles and guns of the Civil War to a group of Boy Scouts. During an earlier visit to Dragoon Days, each child was given a handmade wooden toolbox. Kids roamed safely through the various areas of the fort and spoke with other children who participated in the reenactments.
Standing beside the roped-off battlefield plugging my ears from the deafening canon fire, I found myself hoping this would be as close to war as I'd ever get.
When the 30-minute battle came to a close, a distraught pioneer woman flung herself over her dead husband's body. A father cried in anguish as he watched his son die on the field. The audience applauded wildly in appreciation.
Yep, there's nothing like a good civil war on a Sunday afternoon.
For more information, visit www.forttejon.org.
Photos by Doug Kessler. E-mail Laurie and Doug with questions, comments and suggestions at lakessler1@earthlink.net.