Will reenacting the west die out?

[Terry Boniface (Malpaso)]

There has been a debate on a site here in the UK where it was suggested that the western reenactment will slow down or die out over the next thirty years or so. The reason suggested is that there are not many younger people taking an interest in this hobby, turn around and take a your friends and and see that we are getting older and i wonder how long i will be doing this 5? 10? years if i am lucky. I am not talking about the historian we will always have them but, the showteams and western reenactors. Anyway what do you think?, could it happen?. And dont forget govenments and PC

[Terry Boniface (Malpaso)]

You are quite right Charlie, there is a great western movement in Europe, and the Germans are very good particulaly the native indians, and the German leatherwork is greatly desired, but very expensive and as the old eastern block countries become aware of the freedom and cash of course they are getting interested. If you look at my question you will see that it is aimed into the future. I believe that over the next twenty years things will be great, but gradually from then on if young people do not get involved, the old western movement will slow down dramatically A German reenactor attached

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

It'll go up & down, like most things. Before about 1958 there was very little interest in historical re-enactment of any sort in the US. The War Between the States centennial pretty much jump-started the accurate re-enactment hobby here. In the '50s & '60s at UT in Austin, the ROTC department had a drill team called 'the Confederate squad.' It was supposed to be based on Hood's Texas Brigade, but the uniforms were not even close to being historically correct. I finally managed to persuade the cadre that Confederate officers wore rank devices on their collars, not on their shoulders, & EM's chevrons were worn point down, not point up, but it took a while. Three years later you could buy a dead-on uniform of almost any Confederate--or Yankee--unit.

When Old West reenactment started, it was generally clubs who did 'gunfight shows.' That's how the group here (since disbanded) began. We worked into more history as we went along, but with transfers out of the area, deaths, & the general problems of getting older, the whole thing just died. We had some younger guys, but they were the 'upwardly mobile' types who kept getting transferred from job to job--one of 'em's in Arizona (don't know if he's kept up the hobby out there), another's in Chicago, another's in Massachusetts (says he's scared to tell anybody he owns guns at all in The People's Republic of Massachusetts), another was in the AF & transferred to Britain, had to leave all his gear behind--that sort of thing.

Young people are interested--at least where interest is promoted. Twice a year I go to Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in South Texas. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department sponsors a hands-on experience there for VoAg & 4-H high-school (& sometimes Jr. Hi.) kids. They're brought to the WMA, where they get a briefing, at the HQ, on the game & non-game animals of South Texas. They're then taken to an isolated spot called Old Blocker Pond. There they go thru a round-robin--archery, centerfire & rimfire handguns, a round of skeet, a round of sporting clays, rimfire rifles, centerfire rifles--& then I get 'em. My pardner & I teach muzzle-loaders. We bring a lot of re-enactment gear as well as our own firearms. The WMA has two Greyhawk modern sidelocks & a semi-replica Colt (It's Navy pattern, but .44). We add flintlock rifles & pistols, traditional percussion sidelocks, single-shot percussion pistols, a couple of blunderbusses, &--this year--two 1½" bore cannons. Our station is always voted 'most fun' by the kids, & we never hold a single session without at least half the kids asking "Where can I get this sort of stuff?"

[George D Rodriguez]

While in the Air Force before I became a paramedic I was a Photolithograper and also assigned as an auxillary security officer. We took our training with handguns at the security police range. During emergencies our posts were to guard the aircraft. After I retired from the military, I attended a required Cleet (Certified Law Enforcement Education Training) course for armed security officers. I did this on a part time basis for many years and supplemented my income. When the state came out with a concealed carry license I had to attend another course to be able to carry concealed. With all this training I am able to shoot strong side, weak side, one hand, double handed and baracade effectively qualifying expert with all types of long arms and hand held weapons. The one fact that I learned from all this training other then learning to shoot straight was when to shoot and not to shoot. The 5 second rule and how far a person can travel in 5 seconds carrying a knife to cut you with or assult you with a club. Shooting straight is important but knowing when to shoot is more important.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

In police school they always said "If you've got a revolver, shoot the guy only 5 times. That way you can say 'I didn't use unnecessary force. I still had one round left.'" Which brings to mind some testimony I once heard in a 'wrongful death' lawsuit. The lady of the house shot an intruder 6 times. She was asked why she shot him 6 times. "I just kept pulling the trigger. After I heard it click several times I knew I was out of bullets." The 'wrongful death' suit failed.

I once worked on a case where a woman from somewhere up in the northeast, I'm not sure where, shot a would-be rapist after he broke into her apartment. Her husband was a Texan & supplied her with a pistol. She emptied her .32 auto into the guy. He ran out into the yard & fell over dead. She was terrified we were going to arrest her & charge her with murder. All my sergeant said about it was "Damn, lady--you wanted this SOB dead, didn't you?" We ran his prints & the place lit up like a Christmas tree. He had a rap sheet about a half mile long. I thought that teletype would never quit clicking. I suggested we give the lady a medal for doing our job for us, but the chief nixed it.