This year will mark the 158th anniversary of Fort Concho’s establishment, and the staff and volunteers at San Angelo’s oldest civilized address are doing plenty to keep the compound’s unique frontier history alive.
Saturday marked the middle of a three-day event at the fort: initiating a group of fresh recruits into the world of living history.
Fort Concho Education Coordinator Sarah Thieme, (pronounced like “team”) said the weather was just perfect this weekend, with afternoon highs in the upper-80s Friday and Saturday, and a cold front expected for Sunday which allows the participants a sample of at least two seasons.
“The fireplace may be going full-steam-ahead come Sunday,” she said with a laugh. “We’ll have to see.”
Thieme said the trainees on the parade ground, under the eye of the fort’s seasoned soldiers, are drilling based on a manual written by Brevet Maj. Gen. Emory Upton.
“Upton, in the 1870s, published a manual, and it combined infantry and cavalry tactics,” she explained. “That falls under Fort Concho’s time — from 1867 to 1889 — so we train on those tactics.
“They are learning how to drill: left-face, right-face, parade-rest… after we get those out of the way, tomorrow, we will be learning skirmish drills.”
Thieme spoke a little about what life was like for the soldiers who originally garrisoned the fort.
“The realities are, for an infantryman on the western frontier, seeing conflict was rare,” she said. “More than anything, they were marching and drilling, all of the time, and going from one post to the next one.
“So the program for today is training them on those tactics between meals.”
She said the participants are treated to period-authentic foods at chow time.
“They had a delicious breakfast,” she said. “They had corned-beef hash, and it was insanely good. They’ll have meat-pies for lunch along with apple duffs. It’s great!”
Out on the parade ground, it’s already sunny and hot by mid-morning, and the men in wool jackets and hats break a sweat as they work on their maneuvers. The non-commissioned officers demonstrate the correct way to do everything before putting them through the paces a few times.
A little later, on a brief barracks break, they enjoy the shade for a while, sitting on the chairs and bunks as Thieme talks to them briefly about several subjects, including the history of some of the original companies to garrison the fort, from cavalry and infantry regiments of black soldiers.
An hour or so before noon, activity has picked up again behind Barracks 5 where there is a chuckwagon and a couple of campfires with coffee and the makings of the midday meal.
A pair of soldiers lend their hands to supper preparations with the chuck wagon crew; both are Air Force firefighters stationed at Goodfellow AFB.
Weston Kuper is from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and he said he enjoyed last night’s rest in the spartan barracks, where he slept on a plank bed with a hay-filled mattress.
“This a great distraction from real life,” Kuper said of the living-history program. “And the bed was better than described — the hay does a better job than you would think.”
Robert Burnside is from Memphis, Tennessee, and he gave his impressions about our frontier fort this way:
“It feels like a time capsule,” he said. “Perfectly preserved; like a ship in a bottle.”
“It’s really nice just to take in all the surroundings here, whenever you get a break,” Kuper added.
Goodfellow’s volunteer coordinator, SFC. Christopher Pickering, confirmed that the events of the weekend likely constitute a welcome change for these young men.
“These guys work hard,” Pickering said. “And they’re usually studying hard for their next test, so this is a refreshing change. It’s something different, and they’ll have a good time doing it.”
Pickering said the trainees are between 18- and 24-years old, and are made up from Army, Marine Corp. and Air Force personnel.
In the breezeway between the mess hall and barracks, a group of children are looking around as Corky Wermuth, 82, talks about what the soldiers are doing in the courtyard.
Wermuth said he loves to give tours, and after retiring at age 79, getting to share his love of history with the folks visiting Fort Concho is one of his favorite things.
“I have a military background, as do many of these guys out here,” he said. “It’s been fun; during the year, the schools bring the kids out, and they have a great time.
“It amazes me; these kids — the questions they ask are fantastic! There are some dang-smart kids out there.
“But to help keep this history alive is great; I love to see that.”
The Mission of Living History
Thieme took a few minutes to talk about the timeframe they are re-enacting here at Fort Concho, and the historic landmark’s long tradition of teaching living-history.
“Our time is the 1880s,” she said. “And the community had started really establishing; there were farms nearby, and by that point the railroad was starting in. Pecos was opening up, because it was a rail town, so Texas is really getting established at this point.”
“Our whole thing is bringing history to life,” she said. “You can read all the books in the world, but there’s something about seeing it firsthand; you see it out here today… how much labor it takes just to prepare a meal, and all the work it takes to keep things going.
“Fort Concho had running water in the 1880s, so we at least have that luxury, but other than that…things here are hard, and we want to show it — not just tell you about it.
“Our interpreters take it to heart, and they are showing people.”
Thieme said the re-enactors travel throughout the state of Texas over the course of the year, setting-up camp and talking to the public.
“This is where we practice for that, so it’s a training event for interpreters as much as it is an event for talking to the public,” she said.”And there’s just something about getting to sit down with someone who’s made it a part of their life’s mission to learn everything they can about the time period, that really brings it to life.”
What’s new at Fort Concho?
Thieme said they have just completed Barracks Three and Four, and begun the move-in process, which are going to be part of a large library and archives.
“We’ve been busting-at-the-seams for ages,” she said. Now we’re going to be able to expand, so we can at least get to everything.”
Coming in March: “Evolution Of The Lady.”
Thieme said in late March they will have a special interactive event and exhibit that focuses on how frontier life progressed for the female who lived at the fort, with an 1860s camp, an 1870s home, and an 1880s home.
Reporters Notes
Sarah Thieme was honored as Fort Concho’s employee of the year during a brief ceremony last month, recognized by her boss, Parks Department Director Carl White and City Manager Daniel Valenzuela.
The food was prepared by Crackers & Biscuits Commissary, a vintage chuck wagon staffed by James Jacobs of south Louisiana and Brian Farris of Mississippi.
According to Jacobs, before he purchased his wagon, the working antique appeared in three movies: the Civil War film “Glory;” “Far And Away,” staring Tom Cruise, and one more he couldn’t think of at that moment.
The dessert-like pastry they prepared, Apple Duffs, are a treat they described as very similar to a McDonalds apple pie or empanada.
1 Comment
Well done, Sarah
Well done Matthew; thanks for visiting