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Announcement
and application
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The Living History Encampment at Bent's Old Fort
NHS is a four day, three night immersion course for which graduate
credit is available. The Topographical Engineer section of the course is
meant to familiarize interpreters with the skills and knowledge of the
topographical engineer officer of the 1838-1850 period. To this end,
participants are assumed to have just graduated from West Point and will
be receiving on-the-job training regarding expeditionary mapping skills
using period instruments such as the Fortin barometer, hypsometer,
reflecting circle, artificial horizon, zenith telescope, portable
meridian instrument, etc. Additionally, participants will receive
several period publications, a text, and a field notebook. 
Officers and gentlemen attending should peruse the
suggested reading list and equip themselves with a working sextant or
quintant. Period instruments are fine if they are in alignment and the
arc is readable; otherwise, the Davis Mark III, an inexpensive plastic
sextant, can be purchased on the internet for around $50. Acquiring the
artificial horizon is not necessary. In addition to the sextant, a
pocket compass (period if possible) should be brought.
Although wearing the uniform of the Army of the
United States helps immensely to form and channel the thoughts and
demeanor of the interpreter and is encouraged, it is not
necessary. Normally, there were more civilian specialists than
officers on these expeditions, topog officers did not necessarily wear
the uniform, and officers were not limited to topographical
engineers. However, if you plan to wear a uniform, we will be
portraying officers of the Mexican War period to the public during this
event, and for that reason, it is necessary that the uniform be
defensible as one of the 1838 - 1850 era. The clothing regulations for
this period can be read here.
Clothing
Civilian garb for a gentleman of the period is
acceptable. For those participants whose closets do not contain an
abundant
supply of 1840's clothing, the park will be able to help you.
Uniform: Wearing pieces of the uniform with
civilian clothes as comfort dictates is historically correct for
expeditions. The following articles of uniform would be
acceptable for an officer:
Mex War era forage hat or straw hat. Forage
hat should have hat badge. (if at all possible, uniform should
be consistent with whatever branch is chosen)
Mex War to Civil War era frock coat (single
breasted), or white linen or cotton roundabout as per 1847
regulations.
Rank on straps (pre-1850 size if possible)
should be 2nd or 1st Lieutenant, in
keeping with historical norms. Contra-epaulettes for
those uniformed as dragoons or topogs are fine.
Stock or cravat of black silk
Sash should be crimson silk (orange for
dragoons)
Sword belt should have belt plate
appropriate to the era and branch.
Sword (if worn) should be 1833 or 1840
dragoon design, although any period officer’s sword would be
acceptable if the rest of the uniform corresponds.
Trousers - should be white cotton drill,
either fly-front or broadfall.
Footwear - Ankle-high boots, Jefferson boots,
Cheyenne- or Arapaho-style moccasins, or Wellington-style boots worn
under the pant leg. No high top boots worn outside the pant-leg.
Tentage, etc.
Tents will be provided
Cots will be provided
Participants should bring their own blankets.
Buffalo robes will be available.
Participants should bring their own plate, cup,
and utensils. If you have a period canteen, bring it.
Suggested Reading
To prepare yourself, there are several extremely
good books available that will give one the flavor of the times.
Bent's Fort:
Lavender, David, 1954. Bent's Fort:
Doubleday and Co. NY. Reprinted many times.
DeVoto, Bernard, 1943, The Year of
Decision, 1846: Little, Brown and Co.
Bent's Fort and Topographical Engineers
des Montaignes, Francois. The Plains:
Being no less than a Collection of Veracious Memoranda taken
during the Expedition of Exploration in the year 1845, From the
western settlements of Missouri to the Mexican Border, and from
Bent's Fort on the Arkansas to Fort Gibson, via South Fork of
Canadian -- North Mexico and Northwestern Texas. Nancy Mower
and Don Russell, editors, reprinted by University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman. The account of Fremont's 1845 expedition by a
member.
*Schubert, Frank N., (ed.) March to
South Pass: Lieutenant William B. Franklin's Journal of the
Kearny Expedition of 1845. Engineer Historical Studies, no.
1, GPO, Wash, DC. Franklin, with Kearny, passed through Bent's a
few days before Fremont arrived.
Galvin, John (ed). Through the Country
of the Comanche Indians in the Fall of the Year 1845; The
Journal of a U.S. Army Expedition led by Lieutenant James W.
Abert of the Topographical Engineers. John Howell - Books,
San Francisco, 1970. Abert's account of his expedition with Lt
Peck after their separation from the Fremont expedition at
Bent's
Galvin, John (ed). Western America in
1846 - 1847; The Original Travel Diary of Lieutenant J. W. Abert.
John Howell - Books, San Francisco, 1966. Abert's account of his
trip with the Army of the West from Ft Leavenworth, through
Bent's, and into New Mexico.
*Emory, William H. 1848. Notes of a
Military Reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth in Missouri to San
Diego, in California. 30th Congress, 1st session, Senate
Document No. 7. Lt Emory's report of the movement of the Army of
the West.
Topographical Engineers:
Goetzmann, William H. Army Exploration
in the American West, 1803-1863. New Haven, CT: Yale U,
1959. 509 p.
Goetzmann, William H. Exploration and
Empire. New York, NY. Alfred A. Knopf, 1967
*Schubert, Frank N., ed. The Nation
Builders: A Sesquicentennial History of the Corps of
Topographical Engineers, 1838-1863. Ft Belvoir: Office of
Hist, Corps of Engineers, 1988.
*Schubert, Frank N., ed. Vanguard of
Expansion: Army Engineers in the Trans-Mississippi West,
1819-1879. Wash, DC: GPO, 160 p.
* These references are available on-line
through a page at:
Suggested readings
See also the brief articles on the history of
the Corps at:
History - Beers
History - Robinson
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