NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/823575
30 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2017 quarters. The man – who in real life wore an artificial leg from the knee down – was screaming and soaked in artificial blood. Using an antique meat carving saw he'd found at a thrift shop, the surgeon, Davis, began sawing away at the "leg." Visitors listened as the saw ground against a half-inch of PVC pipe attached to the bottom of the table, and as the wound was cauterized, smelled what seemed to be burning flesh – out of sight, someone was searing a piece of steak to produce the smell. After the demonstration, Davis spoke to the crowd of onlookers about how amputations were performed at the time. A doctor in the audience later complimented him on how realistic the presentation was. But don't come expecting a gory scene like this – the reenacted amputation was a one-time event, much to the disappointment of visitors. "We had people calling the visitor's center for the next three years asking when we'd be doing it again," Davis said. Once a year in November, the Friends put on the candlelight tour, an attraction that the group developed in response to a common request from visitors: they wanted to see the fort at night. The living history interpreters see Fort Atkinson at night all the time; many of them sleep overnight at the fort during living history weekends. It's like going camping, they say. "It's nice and quiet, and there's no electricity," said Kevin Arnold of Omaha. "The kids will read books and play games, all by candlelight." Meanwhile, the adults gather to talk, share stories about the historical research they've done lately, and play instruments together. Many of the interpreters said this is the best part of being involved in the Friends – enjoying the rich conversation and good company long into the evening, after all the guests have gone. Six generations of people have participated in the Friends since it started in 1995. That's how volunteers talk about their community – in terms of family. Children accompany their grandparents to watch them during a living history weekend, and they're soon bitten by the living history bug, drawn to the drama of portraying a soldier or a laundress. Husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends visit Fort Atkinson to find out what it is that has so engrossed their significant others. Other children grow up with parents who have volunteered for years. Kris and Kristy Ericson's two daughters, Lylah and Taylor, have been going to Fort Atkinson's living history events "since birth," Kristy said. WADE DAVIS Living history interpreter Julie Ashton plays the hammered dulcimer for onlookers. About 15,000 people visit Fort Atkinson's living history events each year, learning more about a period in Nebraska's history that isn't often taught in schools.