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Experience living history at
annual Civil War re-enactment
WARRENTON — The
Northwest Civil War
Council will present a
full re-enactment at Fort
Stevens State Park from
Saturday to Monday, Sept.
3 to 5. This is one of the
largest events of the year
for the NCWC and will
include as many as 800
Civil War re-enactors from
all over the West Coast,
including Washington, Or-
egon, California, Nevada,
Idaho and Canada.
The event is open to the
public from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, and
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday.
The event offers more than
seven acres of living history
at Fort Steven State Park’s
historic area with re-enac-
tors in period clothing and
uniforms, campsites and
characters. Re-enactors
presenting living condi-
tions and circumstances of
early 1863 as well as battle
re-enactments each day
with artillery, infantry and
cavalry.
Battles are scheduled at
11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Satur-
day and Sunday, and one
battle beginning at noon
Monday. There will also be
demonstrations presenting
period medical practices
each day, music demonstra-
tions, artillery and cavalry
demonstrations, a fashion
show and hundreds of peri-
od tents showing a variety
of activities that would be
found at an 1863 military
and civilian campsite. There
will also be a Civil War era
church service at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday.
Admission is $20 per
carload and a $5 day-use
fee to the Oregon State
Parks service, and $5 per
person at the bike gate.
The Northwest Civil War
Council is a nonproit living
history organization dedi-
cated to educating the pub-
lic and its members about
FILE PHOTO
The staged battle re-enactments at the event will include
infantry, cavalry and artillery.
the American Civil War.
Through membership in the
NCWC, one has the oppor-
tunity to recreate portions
of the past in educational
drama at re-enactments
through which the spectator
as well as the participant
discover and learn more
about their history and the
people who lived during the
year 1863 in Virginia and
Pennsylvania.
A re-enactment is a
gathering of period person-
alities living and working
within the event portraying
their particular impression.
Members wear authenti-
cally reproduced clothing,
use black powder weap-
ons, cook over open ires
and sleep in canvas tents
while participating in battle
re-enactments and military
or civilian life.
Re-enactors speak in
the manner and use the
etiquette of the mid-19th
century, they write in jour-
nals of their experiences
and work in irst person at
events — all in the name
of living history. Specta-
tors are welcome to walk
through the camp areas and
discuss history with re-en-
actors, some of whom may
talk in irst person. Skits
and impressions will go on
all day, including period
cooking, daily soldier activ-
ities, civilian businesses and
more.
The NCWC is an um-
brella organization that rep-
resents the re-enacting units
making up its membership.
The active membership is
just over 1,100 people from
all over the Northwest, and
the organization sponsors
events throughout Oregon
and the Northwest.
Members also partici-
pated in over 100 school
presentations this year fea-
turing anywhere from one
or two re-enactors to 10 full
“stations” demonstrating
several aspects of the period
including medical, artillery,
infantry, cavalry, the sani-
tary commission and more.
The club also marches in
parades and provides honor
guards and salutes at funer-
als and memorial services.
Members also research,
locate and document un-
marked Civil War veterans’
gravesites, then acquire
period headstones from
the federal government,
prepare the foundation for
the headstones and have a
period memorial service
while marking those sites in
cooperation with the Sons
of Union Veterans.
For more information, go
to www.nwcwc.org