With America’s 250th anniversary, reenactors have been busier than ever, sharing the stories of those involved in the founding of this country – and those impacted along the way.

Representing pioneers, Native Americans, generals and soldiers, these reenactors don’t just buy clothing online and show up for an event. For many, these living history presentations are the result of years of continually updating research, assembling attire and accessories, and honing skills in order to accurately portray a person or a culture in a way that’s engaging, educational and respectful. 

The Anthony Wayne Free Press caught up with a few of these reenactors ahead of two local events – the Saturday, July 11 Twilight on the Battlefield and the Tuesday, July 14 for Kids Dig History Day – which will feature living history presentations.

Joel E. Burg 

“This year has been especially rewarding to share information pertaining to our 250th celebration,” said Joel E. Burg, who on July 11 will portray Antoine Lasalle, a French fur trader and member of the Volunteer Companies of Refugees, and fought with the Native Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Growing up, his family vacations always included visits to historic sites. In the years since, he has participated in encampments, reenactments and historical presentations, representing men from the 1790s to the 1970s Vietnam era.

“Ohio is rich in history, and the Ohio territory played an important role in our national identity, he said. “History matters! We need to know our own, our local and national history to understand current issues and how they may affect the future.”

Taylor Moyer

Taylor Moyer, a member of the Black Swamp Intertribal Foundation, will dress in traditional regalia to share the history of Native people during the Northwest Ohio Indian Wars of 1790-1796 during both events.

“Native Americans do not believe in portraying ancestors,” said Moyer, who instead of focusing on one person, works to reflect the experiences of the Natives living in the Maumee River Valley.

His path to becoming a reenactor or living history representative started in 2003, when as a junior historian with the Henry County Historical Society (HCHS), he dressed for an Ohio bicentennial event.

“I was there with my two friends in the most unauthentic, worst-researched clothing you could have imagined,” he laughed, adding that the HCHS at the time didn’t have any reenactors or historians to guide him.

Michael McMaster, who was with the Wood County Historical Society at the time, was at the event and invited Moyer to come to Fort Meigs for a Memorial Day reenactment. With guidance from McMaster, and then Cherokee John Baer, Moyer gained the knowledge and skills to share the stories of the earliest settlers of the Ohio River Valley.

“John Baer was my mentor, guide and compass when it came to the work I do. I always carried the torch to tell the story,” said Moyer, who said he’s always known his own family’s history, which includes ancestors who took part in the American Revolution and Civil War.

With the 250th anniversary, he and the members of his group have focused more heavily on the Native American participation in the Revolutionary War and the period of the 1790s to 1812. Some are Native Americans and some are not, but all are focused on educating the public.

“We refer to ourselves as a traveling, living history exhibit,” he said. “To do the work right, to go out in the heat in wool clothing and part from family, you’ve got to love it.”

The reasons for getting into reenactments are as varied as the people, he said. Some like to camp, or the culture. Some are museum professionals, educators or fine artisans. Moyer teaches history and senior human cultural studies classes at Toledo School for the Arts, including world religions. Over the years, many of his students have come out to reenact with him; others have gone on to earn master’s degrees in history and work on Native American reservations or in museums.

Like many reenactors, Moyer sees what he does as a lifestyle and a continuation of his passion for history. At home, he’s growing and cultivating crops that date back to the first Native American people: corn, sunflowers, squash and beans. 

“I’m an unwavering advocate for public history. A fierce advocate for the earliest stories of the early Ohio River Valley and the historic sites of Fort Miamis, Fallen Timbers and lesser known sites,” he said. “I have a great emotional connection to these places that’s hard to articulate. “

As he prepares himself for the Twilight on the Battlefield, Moyer knows he’ll think about what a Native Confederation member must have thought and felt as he prepared for the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

“I have twins and a five-year-old, a wife and sisters-in-law. What must it feel like to know I might not come back from this? I try to be incredibly respectful and advocate for all cultures and people,” he said.

Now 37, Moyer said he’s seen audience questions change in the years since that Ohio Bicentennial event. It used to be the questions were simple: What did they eat? What is that bow and arrow made of? What were the tribes? Now many in the audience are well-read, and he might get specific questions about the Northwest Ordinance and how it impacts life today, for example.

When he hears an audience member say, “I learned more today from you than I ever did in history class,” Moyer said he knows he’s made an impact.

Jan Lowe

During the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 2019, Jan Lowe introduced visitors to Frances Slocum (1773-1847), who was taken by the Lenape, or Delaware, when she was five years old. While Slocum wasn’t present at the battle, her story – and way of life – resonates with that time period, Lowe said.

A Quaker, Slocum was living with her family in Wyoming Valley, Penn. when she was taken and adopted by a childless couple. She later joined the Miami tribe and given the name Maconaquah, or “young bear.” She married Shepoconah, a Miami chief, and they had four children, including two daughters who lived to adulthood. Her Quaker family found her in 1838, but Slocum chose to remain in Indiana.

Slocum probably had become too adjusted to life as a Native woman, enjoying much more freedom than other women at the time, Lowe said. Native women owned the tent, had clan mothers, and advised the men on when to plant or go to war, she said.

Lowe credits Jamie K. Oxendine, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina who previously taught Native American studies at several universities, with giving her insight into the Native ways of gathering, hunting and preparing foods.

As she depicts Slocum, Lowe talks about the foods, the customs and the materials. To make her clothes, Lowe uses natural fibers like cotton, linen or wool, and dyes them with sumac, goldenrod, acorn, walnuts and even elderberries. She makes her own moccasins and leggings, tanning them in a process that includes brain or bark. She’s currently making a pair of moccasins with moose hide.

“I talk about the customs that I’ve learned from different Native people,” she said. “I’m white, but adopted by the Eastern Woodlands people –  the people of the woods.”

Over the years, she’s gone to heritage days, encampments and powwows where she cooks over an open fire and sometimes participates in competitions. In some events, she even shoots a .62-caliber smooth-bore flintlock.

“I love to cook over an open fire. I’ve always loved being out in nature. My dad was a scoutmaster and my mom a Brownie leader, so I like camping, fishing and canoeing,” she said.

In the process, she’s learned a few phrases in the Wyandotte Shawnee language, including how to say “Come here, friend.”

“I love reenacting, because I can share what I love about the Native people,” she said. “And I meet people from all over.”

When she isn’t portraying Slocum, Lowe lives in a similar way – cooking all natural foods in cast iron, growing plants to use for dyes, and spending a lot of time outdoors.

Craig Fisher

When Craig Fisher was growing up, he knew that his ancestors were among the original settlers in Henry and Wood counties, but he was “fairly clueless” about what happened in the Maumee River Valley. After years of reenacting, including portraying Gen. Anthony Wayne, he’s gained a broad understanding of life in the area before the War of 1812.

Fisher’s first involvement in reenacting was for the 125th anniversary of the Civil War.

“We took great pride in researching what they wore in different regiments,” he said, noting that he and fellow reenactors passed around reproduction photographs of soldiers like they were baseball cards. By looking at photos, letters and other documents, they were able to better understand a soldier’s life as the Civil War progressed.

“They would start out fully equipped and, after marching hundreds of thousands of miles through the South, they would shed that stuff,” he said.

In 1976, Fisher headed to France with a group that toured France as Revolutionary War soldiers returning to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  This was a way to thank the French, who heavily backed the war financially and spiritually, Fisher said.

In the late 1990s, Fisher was doing an interpretation of Rev. David Zeisberger, a Moravian clergyman ministering to the Lenape in what is now the restored Schoenbrunn site in eastern Ohio, when he was approached by film director Gary Foreman. He wanted Fisher to be Gen. Anthony Wayne in a movie for the History Channel. Fisher agreed, with the caveat that he wanted to do his own research. The show first aired on the History Channel in 2000, and Fisher was later tapped to play the role of George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry during a bombardment by the British in 1813, for another History Channel movie.

To portray Wayne, Fisher had an East Coast specialist create a 1790s hat, but the rest of the outfit he made himself, using a machine to sew anything that wasn’t visible and hand-sewing the rest.

“There’s a lot of science behind the hand-stitched garment and buttonholes,” he said, explaining that he sometimes uses 12 to 16 stitches per inch when making or repairing clothing. 

Reenactors not only play the part in dress, but get close to what Fisher considers a form of acting.  It’s forced him to test his limits as well, including riding on horseback.

“I am not a horse rider. You have to have a horse that feels good about having you on top of him, and doesn’t react to an explosion around its ears.”

During a Civil War reenactment, while carrying a sword, Fisher was heading toward the horse at full gallop.

“I pulled the reins and the horse reared up. The audience thought it was great. I was terrified – I didn’t think it was going to stop,” he said.

One of the aspects Fisher loves about reenactments is the opportunity to interact with the audience, as opposed to acting on a stage. As a fine artist who spends a lot of time alone, making etchings and original prints in his studio, being around people is a nice break.

After portraying Wayne this weekend, he’ll also be participating in the 250th program at the Navarre-Anderson Trading Post in Monroe, Mich. In August, he’ll travel to Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts to represent a civilian soldier who was loyal to the British during the American Revolution’s Battle of White Plains. 

On Saturday, July 11, the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Commission will host Twilight on the Battlefield from 6 to 9 p.m. at Fallen Timbers Metropark, 4949 N. Jerome Rd. Participating reenactors include: Taylor Moyer, Abigail Simmerson, Craig Fisher, Xavier Allen, Joel Burg, Jackie Willman, Justin Kaiser and Jan Lowe. Tickets are available at watervillehistory.org.

On Tuesday, July 14 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. the Anthony Wayne Area Arts Commission, Waterville Historical Society and City of Waterville will host a special Eats and Beats Food Truck Tuesday with Kids Dig History activities for the whole family at Conrad Park, 798 Michigan Ave. in Waterville. Participating reenactors include Bill Grimes as John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), Jim Conrad as Waterville founder John Pray, and Abigail Simmerson and Taylor Moyer as Native people during the Northwest Ohio Indian Wars from 1790-1796.