History, itswarts on display in Lamar
The Denver Post
Debra Ball doesn’t go out of her way to mention it, but when people ask what the life of a frontier woman was like, she tells them the truth.
“It’s kind of hard to say to people, ‘ No, I can’t vote,’ ” said Ball, 61, who portrays aMormon woman from the 19th century Mississippi Saints movement. “You don’t talk back to your husband because what he says comes directly from God. It’s not a hippy- dippy partnership. If you talk back to him, he could beat you for it.”
For the past eight years, Ball’s unvarnished, historically accurate portrayal has been part of the ambitious Frontier History Encampment at Lamar Community College.
The free, biannual event— which was founded in 2005 and takes place three and a half hours southeast of Denver— drew1,000 people over two days in 2013, according to organizers.
“We attempt to be very true to the past, which is not always pretty,” said Kelly Emick, a history instructor at Lamar Community College. “We’re very selective about who we invite to participate.”
Emick and co- producer Butch Kelley’s attempts to avoid romantic, commercial depictions of life along the historic Santa Fe Trail are fundamentally educational, which puts them at odds with money- making ventures like renaissance fairs and elements of the heritage tourism industry that has flowered around various historic sites in recent years.
This year’s Oct. 2- 3 Encampment will bring 50 “living historians” to Lamar for a glimpse into the life of 19th century fur trappers, traders and homesteaders— but also their wives, families, and the American Indian, Latino and African- American people whose stories are often glossed over at some sepiatoned cultural events.
“We are not politically correct in any way, shape or form. We are historically correct,” said Kelley, 66, a longtime military historian who teaches not only military re- enactment players but also inmates in the GED program at nearby Bent County Correctional Facility.
He subscribes to the theory that learning from the past helps avoid future mistakes.
“If people are sensitive to slavery or how women were treated, we’re sensitive to that, too. But we also want to tell the truth. And if we can’t, there’s no point in doing this.”
This is about more than just dress- up, Kelley said. He noted the “impeccable” credentials of the historians he invites to the Encampment, who conduct comprehensive research with an eye toward not only clothing and tools but mannerisms, speech and cultural context.
A full- blooded Lakota Sioux, for example, attended the last Encampment to illustrate what Indian lodges looked like before widespread exposure
2015
Organized by Lamar Community College and featuring historical reenactment of Colorado and Western culture. at 2401 S. Main St. in Lamar. Free. 719- 336- 1532 or lamarcc. edu/ encampment to Europeans. An AfricanAmerican man portrayed a solider from the Union army and happily fielded questions from confused attendees.
“He confronted that typical reaction of surprise from people who didn’t know blacks fought in the CivilWar,” Emick said. “And if you know history, that’s not a surprise.”
On the other hand, a Confederate unit— complete with uniforms, weapons and the contentious Confederate flag banner— did not roam the grounds “preaching and ranting about slavery.”
“They just talked to people about what it was like to survive,” Emick said. “Most Confederates did not own slaves. Most of these people were poor and just fighting because they thought their country had been invaded.”
But it’s not all grim. The Encampment, which runs on a $ 13,000 budget and benefits from Lamar’s nearby Oktoberfest and the college’s Antelope Stampede Rodeo on the same weekend, is set up as an informal, interactivewalk- through with amap as your guide.
And despite their efforts to provide the most honest, complete portrayals of history possible, the organizers acknowledge they’re still only approximating the truth.
“We’veworked so hard to find somebodywho can showthe depth of Hispanic culture in the West, but it’s difficult because there are not many peoplewho are involved in it fromthat cultural standpoint,” Emick said.
Along with the various camps, visitors canwatch and participate in firing demonstrations of an extant CivilWar cannon, see live longhorn cattle and buffalo calves, and takewagon rides around the Lamar Community College campus, which backs up toWillowCreek.
The event is also linked with Emick’s Colorado history course, which blends classroom time with fieldwork at important area sites including Bent’s Old Fort, the Sand Creek Massacre Site and Camp Amache— where Japanese- Americans were held duringWorldWar II.
“Back east of the Mississippi, it’s a very common thing to do this because there’s so much important history and sites there,” said Emick, 46, whose mother, Judy Arnold, founded the Frontier Encampment. “We’re trying to introduce that to people in this area who otherwise might not realize the richness and depth of history in their own state.”