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Gunfight at Old Bedford Village
I have gone to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral event at Bedford for two years now but this was the first time that I have gone as a participant. The first thing I learned was that I didn’t have to pay any admission fee. I was working, after all. The next I noticed while filling out the paperwork was that the vast majority of the people involved are part of some sort of group, either formalized such as the Eastern PA Victorian Society or more informally such as “those guys from North Carolina.” My not being involved with any such group was an anomaly.
It was also anomalous that I was from west of the Alleghenies. Everyone that I met that I also learned where they were from turned out to be from back east. York. Gettysburg. Baltimore. Further south. Further north. I sort of saw this from the other side as I posted on some of the Western Pennsylvania cowboy action forms and didn’t run into anyone who was involved or knew anything about it.
Interesting geographic segregations that confirm my observation that Pittsburgh is a sort of fannish hinterland.
At the Friday pre-event meeting, I was encouraged to take on the role of Ike Clanton. While I could superficially pass for Ike as portrayed in the movie “Tombstone” (which is where they are getting all their cues from), I don’t think my personality would allow me to play that role and also my costume is much too gentlemanly to match.
I bought some blank ammunition for the weekend. Commercial plastic snap-cap-looking blanks that are one use and probably corrosive. I would need to clean my guns shortly after use. I clean my guns shortly after use anyway because I learned with my Martini-Henry that if you don’t, the blackpowder residue will oxidize the barrel quickly.
The gun check was at 7am on Saturday morning and it was already getting hot. I checked all of my guns even though I expected to only carry the Tanaka softair SSA around for most of the day. I ended up carrying the Martini-Henry around as well, hoping that its uniqueness would initiate conversations with patrons. Only other reenactors seemed to notice.
One of the new set pieces this rear was a recreation of the finale of “3:10 to Yuma.” Simply put, it is a gun battle that extends down the street. I was not involved in it at all other than to parallel the action behind the buildings on one side of the street to ensure that no one accidentally stepped out into the action. From that perspective, however, I could see problems.
Primarily one of staging. As the heroes moved down one side of the street, villains attacked them from the other side. The audience moved down the street to watch the action. The problem is, the audience was unable to see the villains hiding behind the buildings and opening fire. I know the performers did a walkthrough the evening before but I could tell that they did so without any direction on how to play the action to the audience. I would have suggested that each villain wait until the heroes had passed and then emerge from the near side of the building behind the heroes but in full view of the audience. At least for some. For action occurring further up the street, the villain, rather than using the building for cover and thus being hidden from both the heroes and the audience, should have instead stepped out into the street to be gunned down in full view.
Something so elaborate needs a director.
After the robbing of the stage, I happened not to get involved in the “grand melee” wherein the robbers get away, there is a gunfight on the main street, the robbers escape into the orchard and then everyone who wants to participate chases them down. I got a bit tied up in managing the crowd, specifically people who couldn’t understand “Stand behind the tree because the gunfight is going to be coming right through here.”
Sleeping in my tent on Saturday night, I left the rain fly off until about 2 in the morning when it finally got cool enough for me to put the cover on.
At the gun check on Sunday morning, the guy doing the check commented that the matte finish on my Pietta pistols can probably be polished up. No. I like the matte finish.
At breakfast I got to speak with a naval engineer who had at one time submitted an airship project to DARPA. There were other conversations throughout the weekend about guns (of course), steampunk, education, politics and even religion (or the lack thereof). I will say that the caliber of conversation amongst the people at this event is significantly higher than that I have had with the local cowboy action shooters. Not that I have a lot of experience either way but this seems yet another example of the Pittsburgh region being a hinterland.
When the stagecoach robbery was replayed again on Sunday I made sure to be involved in the grand melee. I ran out into the field, took dramatic poses, emptied my guns and then postured myself to be gunned down in a dramatic fashion. Grass stain on my shirt will need to be laundered.
After the big gunfight, I went back to the car, cleaned my guns, put them away and returned to town with my camera to take some pictures. I made a single pass through town, realizing that I was running out of energy. Even eating lunch did not help. The heat was really getting to me and I decided to leave early, at about 2pm, rather than sticking around for the replay of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the close of the event.
Good thing. I was tired and had a headache all the way home. I was miserable for the rest of the day and through the night. I got up at 4 in the morning and called off of work. Later in the morning I went outside to make a trip to the store to get some milk and it felt hotter than the actual temperature
I’m getting to old for this shit.
This is literally me showing my age. Yes, it was hot, but when I was younger I was able to handle the heat better. And certainly being hot like that did not put me down into the next day. I don’t recover like I used to. Water. I need to drink lots and lots of water. I drank quite a bit but need to drink even more.
Next year I am going to attempt to be involved in the stagecoach robbery directly, perhaps as one of the passengers who get robbed. I could also get involved as one of the villains in the 3:10 to Yuma scenario.
It was also anomalous that I was from west of the Alleghenies. Everyone that I met that I also learned where they were from turned out to be from back east. York. Gettysburg. Baltimore. Further south. Further north. I sort of saw this from the other side as I posted on some of the Western Pennsylvania cowboy action forms and didn’t run into anyone who was involved or knew anything about it.
Interesting geographic segregations that confirm my observation that Pittsburgh is a sort of fannish hinterland.
At the Friday pre-event meeting, I was encouraged to take on the role of Ike Clanton. While I could superficially pass for Ike as portrayed in the movie “Tombstone” (which is where they are getting all their cues from), I don’t think my personality would allow me to play that role and also my costume is much too gentlemanly to match.
I bought some blank ammunition for the weekend. Commercial plastic snap-cap-looking blanks that are one use and probably corrosive. I would need to clean my guns shortly after use. I clean my guns shortly after use anyway because I learned with my Martini-Henry that if you don’t, the blackpowder residue will oxidize the barrel quickly.
The gun check was at 7am on Saturday morning and it was already getting hot. I checked all of my guns even though I expected to only carry the Tanaka softair SSA around for most of the day. I ended up carrying the Martini-Henry around as well, hoping that its uniqueness would initiate conversations with patrons. Only other reenactors seemed to notice.
One of the new set pieces this rear was a recreation of the finale of “3:10 to Yuma.” Simply put, it is a gun battle that extends down the street. I was not involved in it at all other than to parallel the action behind the buildings on one side of the street to ensure that no one accidentally stepped out into the action. From that perspective, however, I could see problems.
Primarily one of staging. As the heroes moved down one side of the street, villains attacked them from the other side. The audience moved down the street to watch the action. The problem is, the audience was unable to see the villains hiding behind the buildings and opening fire. I know the performers did a walkthrough the evening before but I could tell that they did so without any direction on how to play the action to the audience. I would have suggested that each villain wait until the heroes had passed and then emerge from the near side of the building behind the heroes but in full view of the audience. At least for some. For action occurring further up the street, the villain, rather than using the building for cover and thus being hidden from both the heroes and the audience, should have instead stepped out into the street to be gunned down in full view.
Something so elaborate needs a director.
After the robbing of the stage, I happened not to get involved in the “grand melee” wherein the robbers get away, there is a gunfight on the main street, the robbers escape into the orchard and then everyone who wants to participate chases them down. I got a bit tied up in managing the crowd, specifically people who couldn’t understand “Stand behind the tree because the gunfight is going to be coming right through here.”
Sleeping in my tent on Saturday night, I left the rain fly off until about 2 in the morning when it finally got cool enough for me to put the cover on.
At the gun check on Sunday morning, the guy doing the check commented that the matte finish on my Pietta pistols can probably be polished up. No. I like the matte finish.
At breakfast I got to speak with a naval engineer who had at one time submitted an airship project to DARPA. There were other conversations throughout the weekend about guns (of course), steampunk, education, politics and even religion (or the lack thereof). I will say that the caliber of conversation amongst the people at this event is significantly higher than that I have had with the local cowboy action shooters. Not that I have a lot of experience either way but this seems yet another example of the Pittsburgh region being a hinterland.
When the stagecoach robbery was replayed again on Sunday I made sure to be involved in the grand melee. I ran out into the field, took dramatic poses, emptied my guns and then postured myself to be gunned down in a dramatic fashion. Grass stain on my shirt will need to be laundered.
After the big gunfight, I went back to the car, cleaned my guns, put them away and returned to town with my camera to take some pictures. I made a single pass through town, realizing that I was running out of energy. Even eating lunch did not help. The heat was really getting to me and I decided to leave early, at about 2pm, rather than sticking around for the replay of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the close of the event.
Good thing. I was tired and had a headache all the way home. I was miserable for the rest of the day and through the night. I got up at 4 in the morning and called off of work. Later in the morning I went outside to make a trip to the store to get some milk and it felt hotter than the actual temperature
I’m getting to old for this shit.
This is literally me showing my age. Yes, it was hot, but when I was younger I was able to handle the heat better. And certainly being hot like that did not put me down into the next day. I don’t recover like I used to. Water. I need to drink lots and lots of water. I drank quite a bit but need to drink even more.
Next year I am going to attempt to be involved in the stagecoach robbery directly, perhaps as one of the passengers who get robbed. I could also get involved as one of the villains in the 3:10 to Yuma scenario.