This coming weekend, Sept. 15 -17, Primitive Olde Crow is taking visitors back to the 1860s by hosting a Civil War re-enactment at the winery grounds, east of Clinton off Highway 7 South at 32 SE Hwy.Aa.
There is no charge to attend the reenactment, which will be staged by the Missouri Civil War Reenactors Association and the 8th Missouri Cavalry, a horse cavalry unit based in Springfield. Artillery, cavalry and infantry units from four different states will clash at Olde Crow, according to David Plummer, commander of the 8th Mo.
“The 8th Mo Cavalry will portray Union soldiers, including mounted, dismounted, and civilian members,” Plummer said. “We will have around 25 members at the event.”
The group, based in Springfield, participates in Civil War reenactments, living history events, rides in Midwest and national events, and has been seen in movies and documentaries, according to the 8th Missouri Cavalry Civil War Reenactors Facebook.
Keeping history alive through reenactments and educational events is the group’s primary goal. Friday, Sept. 15, is set aside for school groups to visit the camps on the grounds of Primitive Olde Crow, which consists of the Mercantile, event barn and a brick-oven pizza restaurant. Visiting the camps allows students to talk to the reenactors, who strive for historic accuracy in their uniform and equipment, and see how Civil War soldiers lived during a campaign, the equipment they carried and types of weapons and artillery they used.
The soldiers’ camps will open to the public on Saturday at 9 a.m., with unit drills at 10 a.m. Battles will be re-enacted at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Demonstrations take place at 4 p.m. Saturday. A dance, open to the public, starts at 7 p.m. Saturday night, with night cannon fire at 8:45 p.m.
On Sunday, Sept. 17, there will be a Civil War-era church service at 9 a.m. Camps open at 8 a.m., with drills in the morning. The battle commences at 1 p.m. Camps close at 3 p.m.
The next Saturday, Sept. 23, is Old Settler’s Day at the Henry County Museum Homestead. Another free event, it will carry time-travelers back to the ante-bellum era, offering a living history experience through music, games and demonstrations of pioneer skills. The museum has invited broom makers, rope makers and rug weavers, along with cloth weavers, yarn spinners and lace makers, both bobbin and tatting.
Diane Clark will demonstrate the art of chair-seat caning and weave pine-needle baskets. Sam Vansant is bringing his chuck wagon and cooking some trail favorites.
The Shortleaf Band, from Rogersville, Mo., east of Springfield, will perform fiddle tunes and traditional music from the Missouri Ozarks at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The duet, Michael and Tansey Fraser, has performed at the Red Fox Winery. The Frasers are approved touring performers with the Missouri Arts Council, which helps fund their appearances around the region.
The Cattlemen’s Association will be grilling burgers and brats from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch of a burger or brat on a bun, side dishes and beverage is $15, and is a fundraiser for the restoration of the ante-bellum Dorman House, in the block next to the Homestead.
The Homestead is across the street from the Henry County Museum annex, 203 W. Franklin, Clinton, Mo. Old Settler’s Day is a fun, free event with a hint of history hosted by the Henry County Historical Society, starting at 9 a.m. and going until 4 p.m.
Games will also be held on the grounds of the Homestead, which was created to show how people lived in rural Missouri in the 1800s. One structure moved to the side is a dog-trot cabin, which has two rooms, a kitchen with a stone fireplace for cooking on one side, and a bedroom on the other, connected by the “dogtrot,” a covered passageway.
The one-room schoolhouse, originally from the Calhoun area, is furnished with wooden desks, blackboards, pull-down maps and a coal stove. The Homestead grounds also have a mule barn, corn crib, smokehouse and horse trough.
Call the Henry County Museum, 660-885-8414, for more information about Old Settler’s Day.
Missouri was the site of only two major battles in the Civil War, at Westport near Kansas City and Wilson’s Creek near Springfield.
