Fort Boonesborough


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			It's Happening at the Fort....

		Fort Boonesborough Boonesborough, Kentucky

	With weekend events scheduled nearly every weekend throughout the season at Fort Boonesborough we've added a few pages to keep you informed of the various events.

Click Here for the 2006 Fort Boonesborough Schedule of Events

Fort Boonesborough Links
on this site


	Steve Caudill aka Daniel Boone receives write up in The Winchester Sun




		Caudill as Boone

On Saturday January 21st The Winchester Sun wrote a feature article on their local police detective Steve Caudill. Caudill is the re-enactor who took on the role of Daniel Boone this year at the re-enactment of the Siege of Boonesborough 1778 at the fort. Caudill was born and raised in the area and has been with the Winchester Police Department for 20 years. His family ties go back generations to the area around Strodes Station and Fort Boonesborough. Caudill has been shooting a flintlock rifle since his youth when he and his family would compete at the NMLRA shoots at Friendship, Indiana. The step he took into re-enacting just a few years ago was an easy one. ``I've always had the gear and clothing," he said and have always hunted ``in 18th century style." Attending re-enactments along with trekking just brought it full circle for Caudill.

The article in the Winchester Sun keyed in on the DVD produced by Graphic Enterprises and filmed live in September at Fort Boonesborough. Click here to link to The Winchester Sun article.

For more information about the DVD and ordering information - Click here.




		Article from Spring 2005


	Boone & Blackfish at the Siege of Boonesborough

Re-Enactor and Kentucky native Steven Caudill has been named to portray Daniel Boone at the annual September Re-Enactment of the Siege of Boonesborough. Born and raised in Winchester, Kentucky Caudill remembers being at the Grand Opening of the present Fort in 1974.

Blackfish will be portrayed by Sam Stein. At 22, Sam has been involved in re-enacting for four years. He is a political science major at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

``I do native re-enacting because I've been interested in Native Americans ever since I was a little kid, and since I'm part native by birth, it makes sense for me to reenact that. I've always been interested in all kinds of history, and what can be better than getting to LIVE just like they did in a certain time period.

I'm especially honored and privileged to have been chosen for the role of Chief Blackfish, and am looking forward to being involved with the Ft. Boonesborough living history program. We have a new, larger native village, and some different scenarios planned for the Siege in September. This was a big turning point in the history of Kentucky, and I'm excited to be working with Bill Farmer, Steve Caudill, and the others who represent some of the best re-enactors in the country in the re-creation of frontier Kentucky for the public."




		Blackfish (aka Sam Stein) and Daniel Boone (aka Steve Caudill) ready for the Siege in Septemeber

Caudill says ``I've hiked every holler in the area and even found some great artifacts. The Caudill family for generations has owned the very property that Strode Station once stood on. It is about 10 miles NE of Fort Boonesborough. ``

Like most re-enactors Caudill has a passion for 18th century history that was stoked by living in the area. He has hunted with a muzzle loader for as long as he can remember and spent much time during his younger years with his family at Friendship, Indiana.


	Steven Caudill is a Detective with the Winchester Police Force. He had this to say about portraying Daniel Boone. ``It is nothing short of an honor for me to be asked to portray Daniel Boone at Fort Boonesborough. I look forward to meeting many new friends that share the same love I have for this fort."


	New Native Village

A group of native re-enactors met on March 5th and 6th 2005 to redo some structures for the native village behind the fort. The Longhouse (above right) is a new addition. When coming for weekend events, native re-enactors will cover these structures with mats and canvas as would have been done in the 18th century. Their first use will be at the Native weekend on April 23rd and 24thentitled Middle Ground Native Gathering.


	Illustration of natives covering a longhouse.


	Illustration of the inside of a typical Delaware longhouse.


	The Pirogue Workshop


		March 12th and 13th 2005 saw a boat building class underway. Jim Jacobs of Blue Heron Mercantile lead the group. It was modern tools and 21st century clothing but a strictly 18th century look for the finished products.




		A preview from Bob Ekes of how the finished boat would look.




		Jim Jacobs and Paul Green at work, as John Bramel looks on.




		The precision work of a craftsman.

Ft. Boonesborough

Past, Present and Future
An Interview with Bill Farmer

By Jim Cummings


		I recently had the opportunity to interview Bill Farmer the Living History Coordinator at Fort Boonesborough. It was a balmy February day and one of the few that was not rainy, cold or snowy.

We entered the fort through the newly remodeled gift shop. The shop is located on the left front corner of the fort when you are facing the main entrance. The ``old" gift shop had sustained fire damage approximately two years ago from a fire during remodeling.

The gift shop is very spacious, well stocked and ready for the new season which begins April 1st and runs until October 31st .

After a quick tour of the gift shop we went outside and started walking through the fort grounds. The cabins and the grounds themselves were in excellent shape. They too, were ready for the upcoming season. Since the weather was perfect and there were only a few people about we decided to sit on one of the benches in the middle of the fort. Fort Bonnesborough was built in 1974. It was made of poles similar to telephone poles. It is a large fort and is very well built. It was just the thing to be built in 1974. It had all the elements of a Walt Disney screen set. You could almost picture Fess Parker in a coonskin cap running in and shooting at Indians running from the fort while both would have been wearing long fringed buckskins.

The state of Kentucky built Ft. Boonesborough for just that reason. A tourist attraction. They took advantage of the times in the 1970's and the Daniel Boone/Disney phenomenon. There are people out there that still think of Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett as running these hills of Kentucky together. There are still people out there that think that Daniel Boone wore a coonskin cap.

Fort Boonesborough has suffered in recent years because of these misconceptions. It has been referred to by Period Correct folks as The

ATT to name a few. But now, that is changing. No one can change the structure of the fort. It wasn't built like Martin's Station a few years ago with all period correct tools and manual labor. But it's image is changing. And one of those responsible for that is Bill Farmer. He is the first to admit that Fort Boonesborough was built in a different era. The fort was built as a tourist attraction and it was built to be grand, and spacious and to show off Kentucky's heritage. It needed to be low maintenance, strong and call out to the tourist as something they might see in the movies even with Daniel Boone in a coonskin cap.

But things have finally started to change. The public today is better informed than ever. Historians started verifying historical data. A new interest in original documents and family records began to surface. Data from new sources like family bibles and family journals came out of trunks and attics and basements and county courthouses. Historical centers and historical societies started looking for more information on how things really were. And history at last has started to overtake Disney.

In 1996 Ft. Boonesborough started showing these changes. The fort has a story to tell - the story of Daniel Boone and the first settlers to come through Cumberland Gap. And the way to tell history according to Bill Farmer is through hands on experiences. What better way to show the conflict between settlers and Indians both after the same land, than to be able to see this drama unfold through living interpreters at the Fort.

For the first time starting in April all of the 20 seasonal employees at Ft. Boonesborough will be dressing in period clothing. They will be demonstrating what life was like in the late 18th century. Events scheduled at the fort will reflect this. And the fort isn't doing it alone. In the past year Boonesborough has again become home to ``The Boonesborough militia." Once a month re-enactors come to spend the weekend at the fort.


		Agriculture/Garden Area for hands on learning

	The re-enactors get to enjoy spending the weekend in 18th century surroundings and the public gets to view a ``living, working fort scene." The militia is made up of volunteers from Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Farmer has noted that attendance among visitors has been steadily increasing on the last weekend of the month when the militia is present. For the first time Ft. Boonesborough has eclipsed all of the other state historical sites in attendance.

And Farmer is striving for more of that. If you come to the fort and very little is happening - all you see is the buildings. You might enjoy the trip but won't really feel compelled to come back, for you have seen the fort. But if you see things going on, in and around the buildings you will remember the experience a whole lot more. If you come back again and see different happenings at the fort you will be anxious to come back even more.




		At the forge

To that end there are even more events planned at the fort this year. Interpretive walks, weekend programs, workshops and seminars will add to the schedule at Boonesborough. The annual re-enactment of ``The Siege of Boonesborough" will be held in September and the Annual Trade days in May.

And Farmer is striving for more of that. If you come to the fort and very little is happening - all you see is the buildings. You might enjoy the trip but won't really feel compelled to come back, for you have seen the fort. But if you see things going on, in and around the buildings you will remember the experience a whole lot more. If you come back again and see different happenings at the fort you will be anxious to come back even more.

And helping to lead this new era at Boonesborough is Bill Farmer. He cares about history and shows it. Farmer is a former Marine and has been in re-enacting for many years. Like many of the early re-enactors he started out as a "mountain man." Although Bill's family goes back to early Kentucky, Bill has also lived in Ohio and trapped along the Great Miami River in addition to hunting and trapping throughout Kentucky. I asked Bill if he liked what he was doing in Kentucky and at Ft. Boonesborough. He looked me straight in the eye and with a great big smile, said, ``You bet!"

Bill Farmer and I also talked about re-enacting. He thinks we need to encourage more, and more young re-enactors. Money is always a problem for young people trying to get started. But he pointed out, not every young man needs a gun to start out. Because not every young man on the frontier had a gun.

The key he feels to showing life at the Fort is that it is ever changing. If you come more than once a season and the blacksmith is doing the same thing, that won't encourage you to come back. But if every time you come back you see the blacksmith making a different piece in his shop it will catch your interest. If the next time you learn something about cane or willow or bark and it's uses in making utensils and traps and baskets you will want to return. And if you not only learn about lighting at the time of the fort but put it in context of a timeline from early cave torches to grease lamps, cressets, oil lights, rushlights, candles and the evolution of matches you will want to come back.

Fort Boonesborough is here to help explain our history. It is here for a hands on experience for it's visitors. And Bill Farmer has the ideas and knowledge to really make it work.

More of the Interview with Bill Farmer

JC: One of the many questions I asked Bill was about going from mountain man to the 18th century.

Bill: Well, one day I realized that I didn't live out west. And with that I went from mountain man to Kentucky pioneer.

JC: What is one of the things necessary to do your job here.

Bill: Patience. Lot's and lot's of patience. Things do not move quickly here. It takes time to implement new ideas and see what works and what doesn't.

JC: What do you want the public to experience when they come through the gates this spring.

Bill: When our guests walk through those gates I want them to experience the 18th century. I want them to see it, touch it, smell it and taste it.

I want them to ask questions. I want them to be able to feel the different types of wood and what they were used for. I want them to be able to feel the difference between flax, wool, and buffalo hair. I want them to see how they were spun to make cloth. I want them to understand the different types of lighting used in the period. The garden area is new. I want people interested in heirloom plants and what the settlers would have grown here. I also want them to be able to see the early tools and get a hands on feel for them.

And when they have seen all that they came to see, I want it to be more than they expected. And when they walk out that gate, I want them to say ``Wow!" When they get back home I want them to call their neighbor, their brother-in-law and all their friends and tell them what they saw at Fort Boonesborough. And I hope then, that it will have been ``an eye opening, educational and historical experience of life in Kentucky."

Plan some vacation time or a weekend to come to Fort Boonesborough. You can stop in for a visit with the Militia or come for one of the main events, like the Siege of Boonesborough on September 24th and 25th. Whether you are a re-enactor, a historian, a tourist or an educator just remember one thing. When you come to Ft. Boonesborough this grand lady belongs to us - the people. She is a proud lady and whether you like her look or not, keep in mind that beauty is only skin deep. It's what's inside that counts.




		Farmer talks to some visitors.

My first trip to Ft. Boonesborough

I can still remember my first trip to Fort Boonesborough. I took my three young children. We first visited the original site and read the plaques. We walked the trails, cooled our feet in the Kentucky River and had a picnic. Then we entered the fort and I can remember their excitement - I couldn't hold them back. I have to admit I found it exciting too.

We spent about $50. bucks in the gift shop on coon skin caps, wooden hatchets, wooden guns and coloring books. We toured the cabins and then my three youngsters were ready to leave. They wanted to go back to the park. As my older son said, they were ready to see bears and deer and Indians… It's hard to believe 25 years have passed.

Now when I take my grandchildren to Ft. Boonesborough it will be a much finer experience thanks to people like Bill Farmer


	This feature story ran in the February 2005 Edition of The Pioneer Times Multi-Media For more full length features subscribe to the CD-Rom Magazine. Click Here


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