Gunfight at Old Bedford Villiage

On Wednesday I had been looking at my calendar and making sure I knew everything that was coming up. I thought, “Hey. Isn't the old west thing at Old Bedford Village coming up?” So, I went to the website and, “Holy crap, it's this weekend!”

Last year I had spent the weekend, participating as a performer. No time to prepare for that this year. And besides, the weather report called for lots of rain and I did not look forward to living in a tent under those conditions.

Good thing I decided as I did. Bedford received three inches of rain on Saturday and there was a significant amount of flooding.

I went on Sunday when the weather report looked much better.

I arrived pretty early. Just as the event was opening and the participants were raising the flag and pledging allegiance. I did not participate in that and, in fact, turned away as, hanging below the flag of the United States was a Confederate battle flag.

Now, had this been a Civil War reenactment, I would have shrugged my shoulders. I still would not have participated because, even in character, I am a Yankee through and trough, but this is supposed to be recreating the old west during Reconstruction. 1876 is when the gunfight at the OK Corral occurred. The Confederate battle flag wasn't flown then, even by former Confederates. Even the Ku Klux Klan didn't fly the Confederate battle flag.

The rebirth of the Confederate flag was a product of the mid-20th Century and was rediscovered as a challenge to the civil rights movement. It came from resurgant racism and I will not, in persona or out, doff my hat to such a symbol. Ironic, but probably not unsurprising, that it still found a place at this venue even though current events in Charleston might suggest a more careful investigation of history and a less ignorant presentation. But, as I have observed previously, the Civil War reenactors and Cowboy Action Shooters have more than their fair share of ignoramuses.

I wish that I was better at remembering names and recognizing people. Even though I go to Bedford only once a year, several people remembered me. One even remembered me from a Cowboy Action Shooting event in Donegal two years ago. I suppose the steampunk goggles and distinctive beard make it easier for them.

One of the vendors had four mustache mugs. One had a strange cleft edge that I thought would be prone to dribbling. Another had a peach on the side that I didn't think was quite my style. Two had the phrase “Love the Giver” embossed in gold on the side, which a believe is a biblical paraphrasing calling on one to love god, not the “gift” he has inflicted on you. For $6, though, I bought one of those because the phrase was almost completely worn off, leaving the mug nearly unadorned. I'm sure I will be able to strip it down to bare porcelain.

Old Bedford Village has a resident potter and I bought a mug from him as well. Had I stayed the weekend I would have commissioned him to make me a custom mustache mug or two. That is definitely something I need to remember for next year.



There were a few new set pieces in the program, replacing a recreation of the running gunfight from "3:10 to Yuma" with a bank robbery, but they also had the climactic gunfight at the O.K. Corral. What I liked more was something that I had thought of myself; setting up a space between buildings to present the gunfight as it actually happened.


The gunfight took place in an alleyway about twelve feet across. Eight men (with two horses) crammed into the tight space, firing 30 rounds in 30 seconds and only hitting with one in three or four.

Now before you go gloating about how you could have done much better, and I admit I had that thought myself, realize that statistics of modern gunfights as reported by police don't perform much better under similar close ranges. A lot goes on in those seconds and people do not necessarily behave the way they think they would. I have been in that situation and though I didn't have to pull the trigger to protect my life, things took a turn for the surreal. It would have taken very little different to change the outcome dramatically.

Next year I want to get the actors to stand in their places in this alleyway to get a fuller effect.