A walk back into history (10/13/04)

Dust is rising at my feet. We're plodding along through a pretty typical herd of Middle Americans, if there is such a thing. Then a trapper passes by.

He's dressed in leather and homespun and cradles a musket in his arms.

And he's followed by a Miami with his face painted and his breechcloth flapping in the breeze.

A drum and fife sound behind us, and soon a platoon of early American infantrymen passes by.

And I ask myself: Who are these people?

The answer isn't simple.

In some ways, they're not too different from the Middle Americans who have paid $6 per adult to wander through the encampment.

But in other ways, the re-enactors of an event like last weekend's Mississinewa 1812 are in a league of their own.

These are folks who have taken an interest in history and pumped it up with the equivalent of steroids until they're actually trying to re-live history itself.

Every October north of Marion, the Mississinewa group gathers. Their encampment is not unlike dozens of other encampments throughout the U.S., events like the Feast of the Hunter's Moon and smaller encampments at places like Fort Recovery.

For three days, these folks — hobbiests, enthusiasts, obsessives, or lunatics — sleep on straw or on reproductions of 18th century camp cots, cook their meals over an open fire, and try to touch the spirit of an earlier time.

For the rest of us — that herd of humanity in street clothes — it's a chance to get a glimpse of history, shop at dozens of tents selling everything a re-enactor could ever need, and wonder if we'd ever be inclined to do that ourselves.

Down dusty paths through the encampment, it's possible to put together everything you'd ever need to live the 18th century life. The merchants, all properly licensed by the organizers, sell it all.

Want a reproduction of a flintlock rifle? No problem, but expect to pay anywhere from $800 to $1,200 for a good one. Prefer an Indian bow? Easy.

The kids' version sells for about $10, but a well-crafted bow will run into several hundred dollars.

A tomahawk/peacepipe will set you back about $20 for a standard model.

Then there are the clothes. Everything from underwear to overcoats — all of it historically correct for the period between 1750 and 1820 — can be found.

But you're just getting started. Tents, cots, bedding, camp furniture, crockery, dishes, jewelry, belts, sabers, knives, and pewterware should all be on the shopping list.

By my rough calculation, for a couple to set out to do the re-enactment thing carries a pricetag of a couple of thousand dollars to come close to doing it right.

And even that doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to escape the 21st century and its pressures.

Walking past one camp site, I overheard a "frontier wife" in period costume complaining about her 21st century job. "There's no way it should take a full year to write a job description," she was telling her "frontier husband."

True enough, but for all the trouble she'd gone to, you would think that she'd leave her cares at the office.

Still, she's taken a bolder step than the rest of us moving with the herd of tourists through the encampment. She's given wing to her imagination. She's traded work for a rare kind of organized play for adults.

And one gets the feeling that after the 21st century contingent finally heads for home and the gates are closed, she and her companions will really let their hair down, 18th century style.[[In-content Ad]]