Goodnight & Loving at Fort Stanton Live ...Chapter Two

This blog is a continuation of one I did earlier.  The first one was in preparation for the trip and this one will be at the fort….which is Fort Stanton, New Mexico in about 1866.  

You can take a little time and look on line to find Fort Stanton Live and the website will give you some background on the fort and they even have a Facebook page that will tell you about what the staff at the fort has been doing to upgrade the surroundings.  Larry Pope is the commander of the operation and is the person who “gets things done”.  The fort is quite impressive. 

Talk about re-enactors who know their history.  If you rolled all of the historical knowledge you would have quite an encyclopedia………….wooooo, now that is an old word.  What I am trying to say is the base line knowledge is extremely high.  Many of the historical actors have multiple uniforms.  I ask “James” what the price of the Dragoon uniform he was wearing would cost……..$350 for the headgear and the coat about twice that much.   Hummmmm, I think I will stick to cowboying because I can get into a “uniform” for say…..hat $100, shirt $65, pants $65, boots $150, vest $45, pistol & holster $325, watch $ 300, suspenders $65, wild rag $39,  shotgun $ 225, chuck wagon $16,000, trailer $7000, to say nothing of all of the antique cooking pots, pans, etc….………………hummm on second thought…..well too late now.

We arrived at Fort Stanton mid-morning and got the lay of the land from Larry and we began our methodical camp setup.  We were in a really good location which was where most of the spectators came in to the parade grounds from the parking lot. 

We were to share the fire pit with two other camps, which was no problem and it was especially nice that the fire ban was lifted that very day.  The only annoyance was the distance the fire was from the wagon which sort of limited us on what we were going to prepare.  The plan was to basically prepare food for ourselves and we were going to go Johnny Cakes for the public which requires constant attention to maintaining the fire and cooking the cakes.  We adapted and just provided historically dialog with the spectators about why a chuck wagon would have been at the fort.  We maintained that Charlie Goodnight had indeed invented the chuck wagon for the cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail, however this little drive of 500 head was a test run for the chuck wagon to see how well it would do and what provisions it would carry.  We further interpreted this drive to Fort Stanton to be just prior to the famous cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail in which Oliver Loving died from his injuries from an Indian attack.  If you haven’t seen the movie Lonesome Dove, give it a look because this portion of the movie is very accurate to what actually happened with One –Armed Bill Wilson, Charles Goodnight, and Oliver Loving. 

I met some folks in Ruidoso that later showed up at Fort Stanton and brought some Sand Plum jelly for the camp.  This was sort of the way the weekend went, that is to say, meeting people along the way and visiting about history and telling them about why we are doing this historical re-enactment.  It was great fun.  I wish we could have cooked more.

We were very lucky that we got Ann Marie, Jacob, William, and Maggie to camp beside us.  Ann Marie was the laundress and an amazing woman.  She sews all of their period clothes, makes bread, grows vegetables, sets up their camp and, by the way, this is their history class because she also home schools the children.  The other side of the laundress camp was Jennifer Breeding who was amazing in her own right serving as the fort sutler.  She had lots of clothes for sale as well as other period things that she made herself.  Eddie and I contracted her to make us each a period shirt which will be from a historically accurate pattern. 

The three camps shared the fire pit and that worked out just fine.  We made venison steaks the first night with pan de campo.  Breakfast was eggs, bacon, potatoes, onions, and tortillas.  One meal was beans and Navajo tamales.  All of these items would have been available within the premises of the fort at this period.  We brought the venison from a kill just prior to reaching the fort.   We got the pinto beans on to cook early and they were ready for the noon meal.  We had bran bread brought by the “jelly” folks and zucchini bread made from Ann Maries garden zucchini. Late evening the special treat was Shoofly Pie that James and Ann Marie cooked in a Dutch oven buried in the ground.  Quite tasty!  It is a molasses based pie. 

I had noticed on Facebook that Larry Pope’s daughter Emily had received a new guitar so when I saw her I asked if she would come to the camp in the evening to play and sing which she did most energetically.  She is quite a budding musician and has complete confidence in herself and abilities.  Not intimidated in the least.  It was very enjoyable!

The cavalry had, I think it was six cannons on a firing line, one of which was brand new and this was to be the very first firing.  It went off without a hitch. Quite explosive!! James was in charge of one cannon battery and invited me to go and become one of the crew.  The training is precise and sounded interesting but I didn’t get to the area soon enough as the cannons were about ready to fire when I arrived.  Maybe I will get another chance in the future to participate in the firing.

The thing about having a display such as our chuck wagon is that there isn’t much time to spend getting to know any of the other members of the encampment.  Several I have met on prior occasions to Fort Stanton and they were really pleasant folks to visit with.  I am hoping next year that we will know the ropes a little better and can trade off covering what we need to do at the camp and visiting and getting around to some of the scheduled activities.  I never did look at a schedule of activities and therefore missed many things I would have loved to have attended. 

I would have attended the Military Ball on Saturday night but by that time the old dogs were barking pretty good and besides there were a number of people in the wagon camp just swapping historical

Sunka (Eddie Sandoval), our Apache scout, was especially interesting to the visitors and he spent a lot of time visiting and telling about his involvement with the trail drive and how the Apache were utilized for their tracking and scouting abilities. Now on the other hand, Charles Goodnight (Steve Woods), did as he always does….went into teaching mode.  He held the adults attention as well as the younger visitors to the camp.  We had some cowboy belt buckles in a canvas bag up on the seat of the chuck wagon and when a youngster needed a little boost in his/her spirits we got them to climb up on the wheel and pull the bag out of an old boot top and dig out a buckle for their prize. 

A highlight of the activities of the day was the ambush of the cavalry by the Mescalero Apaches.  The event is staged just off the edge of the fort grounds and the cavalry were out on a patrol when they spotted a couple of Indians in the brush…..who then lured the patrol into the ambush from a ridge just about the marching patrol.  The skirmish lasted for quite a while with the soldiers taking the most punishment.  Many of them “died” before retreating to a better cover from which to fight. 

Sunka and Ronald Lah were two of the leaders of the ambush.  Afterwards everyone joined midways on the battlefield for some good natured high fives.  It was quite entertaining for a couple hundred spectators.

Larry Pope had the evening meal catered for all participants and a local group fed a BBQ plate and everyone did a bit of relaxing.  Following the supper was the military ball, which we didn’t participate in which was certainly our loss because my wife, Linda and I have attended in the past and had enormous amounts of fun. Instead of going to the ball we all set around the camp and visited and shared stories and recounted the day’s activities. 

Our plan on Sunday was to get up and have coffee and get loaded and then leisurely spend the day and then the night in Ruidoso before everyone heading home.  For me it is only a about 2-3 hours home but for them about 10-11 hours.  

We did get up and started having coffee and pretty soon there was a circle of chairs with people joining in again with stories and recounting of the weekends activities.  It was evident to all that this was more fun than packing up and leaving this peaceful setting.  It was way late in the morning, in fact, nearly noon when we got everything loaded.  Everyone was helping each other with the duties of loading and Steve and Eddie talked it over and decided to go ahead and hit the road to home.  They were home close to midnight….me …well I was home before very long.  It was Adios to a wonderful weekend and several additional new friends.

Fort Stanton is Aive!

Goodnight & Loving at Fort Stanton Live

Charles Foxwing Goodnight

Oliver Loving

CHARLES GOODNIGHT

PARKER COUNTY-TEXS

I UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH FORT STANTON –(STOP)- I CAN MEET YOU AT FORT SUMNER IN JUNE –(STOP)- WILL TAKE FIFTEEN OR TWENTY DAYS –(STOP)-GOOD WATER AND GRAZE THE WHOLE DISTANCE-(STOP)-YOU CONTACT FORT STANTON TO SET UP CONTRACT –(STOP)-OLIVER                             

                                                                                                                                                                      6:45AM

TRANSLATION IN DEPTH…. Charles, I know you may find this telegram troublesome( Charles could not read or write) maybe your friend Molly can help you out.  I understand from your wire that you want to go together and take some beeves down to Ft. Stanton in July.  I can meet you in Ft. Sumner the first of June and gather up what we need since we both have a large number just getting fat and sassy because they didn’t take what that asked for the last time.  I figure it will take us 15 - 20 days.  We will follow the Pecos River for about 75 miles south then cut over to the west and pick up the Hondo River and follow it for about fifty miles then we will head north for the last 20 or so miles along the Rio Bonito.  We should have good water and grazing the whole way.  Will you wire the commander at the fort and see how many head he wants us to deliver?  Depending on what he says we can get what boys we need to get the job done.

Gathering up some necessary hands…..

Wokiyaka Casmu Sunka

SUNKA SANDOVAL

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

NEED SCOUT FOR MONTH JUNE AND  JULY (STOP) CHARLES GOODNIGHT AND MYSELF  TAKING BEEVES FROM FORT SUMNER TO FORT STANTON (STOP) WE EXPECT TO HAVE COMANCHE AND RENEGADE PROBLEMS (STOP) WIRE ME IF YOU CAN JOIN US AT SUMNER MIDDLE OF JUNE (STOP) PUTTING TOGETHER HANDS RIGHT NOW (STOP)

OLIVER                                                                                                                            7:40 AM

This is the next message……………..sent by way of  Wells Fargo Stage Lines

Charles Goodnight

Parker County, Texas

We have about 490 head of beeves at Fort Sumner that the Quartermaster didn’t pay us for the last time we delivered.  It seems as though we will continue to supply the Fort with beef since the Navajo have not taken to well to farming.  There are several thousand Indians, mostly Navajo at the fort and they are growing restless by the day.  Word has it that several of the young bucks have acquired horses and left the res at Fort Sumner.  We can continue to supply the fort with beef as long as we keep up a good relation with the Quartermaster.  What beef they have right now should hold them until September.  If it is ok with you, maybe we can get a similar unwritten contract with Fort Stanton over in Lincoln County.  What I was thinking was we could take the 490 head to Fort Sumner to Fort Stanton mid-summer and take care of their need.  I understand that there are a number of buffalo soldiers at Stanton and will be there for some time. I am a little concerned about the raiding of some renegades and also the young bucks from the reservation at Sumner.  The blamed Comanche are a concern too, but not so much the Mescaleros …they seem to mind their own business   .  I wish we could get our hands on some of those Henry's we have been hearing about. I understand you can put a handfull of cartridges through to Henry in less time than it takes you to spit.   Maybe we will get lucky and will have enough jingle in our pockets when we get back to Weatherford that we can pick up enough of them that will allow us to sleep better at night.

Oliver

The telegrams and Stagecoach letter are about a cattle drive by Loving and Goodnight after they had delivered 2000 beeves to Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1866.  According to the history books in June of 1866 Goodnight and Loving partnered up to make a cattle drive to western markets.  They were hoping for a big demand from settlers and soldiers on the western front for their beef.  Biggest of which was for the fort to supply beef to the Navajos who had recently been placed on a reservation near Fort Sumner.  If all this panned out then the drive would be profitable for them.  As it turned out Goodnight returned to Texas with approximately $12,000 in gold to buy more cattle. Loving went on to the railhead in Denver, Colorado with the remaining cows and calfs that the fort was not interested in purchasing at 8 cents a pound. According to our part of the re-nactment at FORT STANTON LIVE, Loving and Goodnight embarked upon another venture to Fort Stanton to supply the fort and settlers with some of the beef that they left on grazing land near Fort Sumner.

Larry Pope

My wife, Linda,  and I have been going up to Lincoln County New Mexico for a few years to the festivities at Lincoln and Fort Stanton and  have enjoyed the outing very much.  As I have mentioned in the past we are even writing a book called Forts, Farbs, and Phantoms about some strange happenings at the fort….but that is, as they say, another story.  This story is about participating in the festivities you can find online called Fort Stanton Live.  There are several companies of soldiers both Union and Confederate as well as buffalo soldiers and some other soldiers depicting other wars in the 1800’s.  This particular period is around the 1860’s, so there will be some Civil War re-enactments as well as representations of life just after the War Between the States.

A while back it occurred to me that the Fort Stanton Live July 12, 2014 would indeed be a possibility for setting up my chuck wagon and doing something completely different from what my friends and I would ordinarily do at a cook-off or some other setting.  This event would have the participants be “in character” the whole time.  Well I thought that would be very interesting and would require a good bit of research pertaining to the time period of 1866.  Again, I was thinking….which is sometimes dangerous….that it is entirely possibly that Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight could easily have been at Fort Stanton to deliver some beef because they were doing that exact thing at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.  So the research began looking into what was going on “in the day”.  I thought about the telegraph and how it was used back then because I wanted to send a telegram to my partner, Charles Goodnight, but realized there must be some etiquette when sending a telegram.  They charge by the word and if you were to write “10^th” you would be charged for 3 words.  It would be cheaper to write “tenth”.  There are some many other tricks to keep the cost down.  I tell you this just to let you know that researching is sometimes fun and you find out a lot that you don’t or didn’t know.  For another instance, the Henry repeating rifle was invented in 1860 and there were 900 made between 1860 and 1862.  Another tidbit was that Charles Goodnight could not read or write.  He mostly used his wife as the person to cipher what he needed to communicate.  Charles’ first wife Mary, as Charles called her, and known to everyone else as Molly, met Charles in 1864 and they were married in 1870 and they had no children.

Laundress-Ann Marie 

In the time sequence of Goodnight and Loving the famous cattle drive they made blazing the Goodnight-Loving Trail occurred in 1867.  And don’t forget that Lonesome Dove, the Hollywood movie, was also based on this same drive.    Our re-enactment occurred in 1866 and again history has a little hiccup in that Goodnight invented the chuck wagon by redoing a Studebaker wagon and outfitting it with a box on the back that the cook would store all of his necessary cooking items.  The glitch in the re-enacting history is that the wagon was a John Deere and not a Studebaker and since history doesn’t say that the chuck wagon was used first on the Goodnight-Loving trail we insist that this trip from Fort Sumner to Fort Stanton was a trial run to see how it worked out and what things would be necessary to have on the wagon. 

We have talked about the food we would fix, but first I thought that Charles, Oliver, Bill, nor Sunka would have been the coosie for this re-enactment so something must have happened to the cook.  Yes, an unfortunate accident happen after a storm had occurred on the upward reaches of the Pecos River and it was on a pretty good rise.  Everyone waited several hours for the water to go down and growing impatient they decided to cross.  The chuck wagon was the first to cross and the force of the water spooked the team and turned up river and the current slammed against the side of the wagon throwing Jebediah into the water.  He quickly  grabbed hold of a spoke in the front wheel  and was pulled under the water, the wheel stopping on his arm. There were out riders with ropes tied onto the wagon but they couldn’t let loose of the ropes or the wagon would have gone over on top of Jebediah.  Before any of the other men could free him, he had drowned.  It was a tragic accident but that is the reason we are doing our own cooking.

Now for cooking and what we might have to eat while at the fort.  Possibilities are: beans, bacon, venison, redeye gravy, Johnny cakes, eggs (chickens at the fort), tomatoes, and smoked meat.

Charles’ chuck wagon would not have had all of the stuff that is on my wagon so I began to eliminate all unnecessary items like:   “table legs” for the serving tables, most of the fly poles, chairs, water hose, pan liners, trays used for staging chicken fried steaks, breast collar on water barrel, unnecessary pots, pans, and coffee pots, and propane lanterns.  I did a quick inventory of the hot and cold blast lanterns and did some maintenance on them to get them burning somewhat efficiently.  Nearly all of the Dutch ovens were eliminated. 

The water barrel, according to Wikipedia, “was attached to the wagon” so mine will be held onto the side of the wagon but first needed a good soaking since it would probably be the only water we will have to use while at the fort. 

I knew we would need to refrigerate some things like the venison, eggs, and a few other things so I needed to build something that would hide an ice chest.  Off to Academy where I purchased a medium sized cooler and took it home for measurements.  Soon the wooden box was built which now resembles a tomato box.  I had recently redone an Arbuckle’s box so it will be used to “hide” a few other items.  Since we may be giving away some food items I thought we would need a place to store some paper plates etc.

Now let’s see, we will need enough cooking iron to feed about 12-14 cowboys so I added a 16”, 14” and a 12” Dutch oven, one bean pot, one coffee pot, two small frying pans and an enamel kettle.  

The sleeping arrangements will be cowboy tipis with cowboy bedrolls so I needed to remake my bedroll so that it would function as one and not just a prop.  Sharpening the axe will come in handy when the wood needs splitting.  We will be using the chuck wagon coffee grinder so we will need to restock the coffee beans.  I still have to go through the chuck box itself and remove all of the non- period spices and aluminum untensils, coffee mate, sweet and low, etc.  Now it is beginning to look like a real trail wagon.  I just wonder what all went through the mind of Goodnight and his cook as to what should be taken on the wagon.  We still sit around the fire and debate this topic.  Basically every wagon that went up the trail was constructed differently and contained the things that were important to that particular trail crew. 

I am looking forward to doing this “in character” re-enactment and I hope you are getting the idea of a little special fun we are going to have at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.  Come on out and join us.