

18th & 19th Century American Historical Reenactments
What is an early American historical “Reenactment”?
Credit Above Photo: Wikimedia Commons Photos from below article w/Crazy Crow edits
18th & 19th Century American Historical Reenactments
What is an early American historical “Reenactment”?
Credit Above Photo: Wikimedia Commons Photos from below article w/Crazy Crow edits
Note the distinction made here of “18th & 19th Century American Historical Reenactments”. There are persons interested in virtually all historical eras of most countries who participate in WWI and WWII reenactments, Viking, Roman, Napoleonic Wars (i.e., Waterloo), etc. In this article, we’ll stick to the early American eras as those are the ones whose participants that Crazy Crow Trading Post supplies. A typical “reenactment” takes place over a one to three-day period, usually over a weekend (folks have real jobs). Reenactors gather and set up an encampment, using reproductions of tents, cooking equipment and camping gear from the period they represent. Each day of the reenactment, you can visit the encampment, talk with the reenactors and watch demonstrations of everything from open-fire cooking to tomahawk and knife throwing. You can learn to dance or listen to musical performances. You can also shop at a reenactment in a special area called the “sutlers’ camp.” Here you’ll find all kinds of items related to reenacting – everything from swords to tents to hand-sewn dresses.
The highlight of a reenactment is usually a particular battle or historic event on which it is based. Spectators head to a field or viewing area to watch the reenactors gather and fight “the” battle. Everything is as authentic as participants can make it, from uniforms and weapons to the battle formations. Of course, the reenactors don’t fire real bullets, but they do fire their weapons, using black powder, so things can get loud and smoky.
Reenactments aren’t just for men, of course. At a typical reenactment, you’ll also see women and children in period costume. You might attend a Civil War fashion show or a colonial sewing circle. Ladies’ teas and other demonstration social events are very popular.
The “History” of Historic Reenactments
Historic “reenactment” have a long history. The Romans staged recreations of famous battles within their amphitheaters as a form of public spectacle. In the Middle Ages, tournaments often reenacted historical themes from Ancient Rome or elsewhere. Military displays and mock battles and reenactments first became popular in 17th century England. In the nineteenth century, historical reenactments became widespread, reflecting the romantic interest in the Middle Ages of the times. Medieval culture was widely admired as an antidote to the modern enlightenment and industrial age that was beginning to spread.


Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment 2013, near Old U.S. Hwy 87, Hardin, MT
Photo Credit: Leonard J. DeFrancisci,CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Reenactments of battles became more commonplace in the late 19th century, both in Britain, and in America. Within a year of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment reenacted the scene as a series of still photographic poses. In America, modern reenacting is thought to have begun during the 1961–1965 Civil War Centennial commemorations. Reenacting grew in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s, due in large part to the success of the 125th Anniversary reenactment near the original Manassas battlefield, which was attended by more than 6,000 reenactors.
Many cottage industries have sprung up to provide not only the materials but also the finished product for use by reenactors. Uniforms and clothing made of hand woven, natural dyed materials are sewn by hand or machine using the sartorial techniques of the period portrayed. Crazy Crow Trading Post has developed and manufactured many of these products and accortrements. Detailed attention to authenticity in design and construction is given equally as well to headgear, footwear, eyewear, camp gear, accoutrements, military equipment, weapons and so on. These items provide the participant a realistic experience in the use of materials, tailoring and manufacturing techniques that are as close to authentic as possible.
Reenactments of battles became more commonplace in the late 19th century, both in Britain, and in America. Within a year of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment reenacted the scene as a series of still photographic poses.
In America, modern reenacting is thought to have begun during the 1961–1965 Civil War Centennial commemorations. Reenacting grew in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s, due in large part to the success of the 125th Anniversary reenactment near the original Manassas battlefield, which was attended by more than 6,000 reenactors.
Many cottage industries have sprung up to provide not only the materials but also the finished product for use by reenactors. Uniforms and clothing made of hand woven, natural dyed materials are sewn by hand or machine using the sartorial techniques of the period portrayed. Crazy Crow Trading Post has developed and manufactured many of these products and accortrements. Detailed attention to authenticity in design and construction is given equally as well to headgear, footwear, eyewear, camp gear, accoutrements, military equipment, weapons and so on. These items provide the participant a realistic experience in the use of materials, tailoring and manufacturing techniques that are as close to authentic as possible.
Popular US Reenactment Periods (chronological order)
Many cottage industries have sprung up to provide not only the materials but also the finished product for use by reenactors. Uniforms and clothing made of hand woven, natural dyed materials are sewn by hand or machine using the sartorial techniques of the period portrayed. Crazy Crow Trading Post has developed and manufactured many of these products and accortrements. Detailed attention to authenticity in design and construction is given equally as well to headgear, footwear, eyewear, camp gear, accoutrements, military equipment, weapons and so on. These items provide the participant a realistic experience in the use of materials, tailoring and manufacturing techniques that are as close to authentic as possible.

Voyageur Rendezvous: 1st of two Rendezvous Periods
In North American history, a rendezvous was a wilderness gathering that took place at established camps or river and lake junctions used by those involved in the fur trade. All of these rendezvous ultimately included a major transfer of furs and goods to be traded for furs. In North America during the fur trade era, from the 16th century to the mid-19th century, there were two distinct periods and locations that defined the Voyageur Rendezvous (late 16th century until about 1810 focused around the Great Lakes) and the Mountain Man or Buckskinner Rendezvous that most movies are famous for, though they only lasted a short period (1825-1840) and took place in the Western Rocky Mountains. What a coincidence that a Voyageur Rendezvous era of over 200 years was coming to a close at almost the same time as the ‘Mountain Man’ Rendezvous of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming began.
Voyageur is a French word, meaning “traveler”. Voyageurs were French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade years. From the beginning of the fur trade in the 1680s until the late 1870s, the voyageurs were the blue-collar workers of the Montreal fur trade. At their height in the 1810s, they numbered as many as 3,000 men. Hired from farms and villages of the St. Lawrence Valley, most spoke French and generally could not read or write. These men agreed to work for a number of years in exchange for pay, equipment, clothing and “room and board.” Most voyageurs would start working when they were in their early twenties and continue working into their sixties. Sometimes being a voyageur was a family tradition.

Annual Voyageur Rendezvous at Grand Portage National Monument each August
Photo Credit: English: NPS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Annual Voyageur Rendezvous at Grand Portage National Monument each August
Photo Credit: English: NPS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
American Colonial Civilian Reenactors
Like the military reenactors of the French & Indian War, Revolutionary War, and War of 1812, fashion of civilian reenactors also follow a timeline, though perhaps more loosely. Generally, the story of American colonial clothing is the story of people who used apparel for more than modesty or protection from the elements. They selected clothing and accessories to announce status, wealth, occupation, and personality, all within the constraining limits of the time and place. Sometimes the message was evident through the form of the garment, a hoop petticoat or a sailor’s jacket, for example. More often, people relied on the nuances of fabric, tailoring, trimmings, accessories, or the accumulation of styles to speak silently on their behalf.
In early Colonial America, settlers brought with them habits and ideas in dress that were characteristic of their places of origin. However, their clothes were also influenced by the climate of the part of the country to which they had come. Many colonists thought it important to preserve class distinctions in all areas. Because of this, they passed many sumptuary laws that proscribed what members of the different classes could purchase or own; protocol in dress was a visible expression of their determination to maintain their heritage.

French and Indian War Reenactments
The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the North American chapter of the Seven Years’ War. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them. The conflict, the fourth such colonial war between the kingdoms of France and Great Britain, resulted in the British conquest of all of New France east of the Mississippi River, as well as Spanish Florida.
Reenactments of battles became more commonplace in the late 19th century, both in Britain, and in America. Within a year of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment reenacted the scene as a series of still photographic poses.

French and Indian War era battle reenactment at Ft. Ticonderoga, NY
Photo Credit: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
American Revolutionary War Reenactments
The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army. The following year, they formally declared their independence as a new nation, the United States of America. In early 1778, shortly after an American victory at Saratoga resulting in the surrender of an entire British army, France signed treaties of alliance with the new nation, and declared war on Britain that summer; Spain and the Dutch Republic also went to war with Britain over the next two years.

Battle of Stoney Creek Reenactment; Ontario, Canada
Photo Credit: Peter K Burian,CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
War of 1812 Reenactments (1812-1815)
The War of 1812 lasted for two-and-a-half years, between the United States and the United Kingdom, its North American colonies and its American Indian allies. The war resolved many issues which remained from the American Revolutionary War but involved no boundary changes. The United States declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of Indian tribes against American expansion, outrage over insults to national honor after humiliations on the high seas and possible American interest in annexing British North American territory (part of modern-day Canada).
The nation gained a strong sense of complete independence as people celebrated their “second war of independence” with nationalism soaring after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

Battle of Stoney Creek Reenactment; Ontario, Canada
Photo Credit: Peter K Burian,CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mountain Man Fur Trade Era, Frontiersmen, Longhunters & Trekkers
Early North America history centers around the trade for animal skins. North of present day Mexico, the vast territory of the United States and Canada was explored, wars were fought, and Indian cultures destroyed in the pursuit of the Mountain Man Indian Fur Trade. Despite the European fur trade encompassing a wide variety of fur bearing animals and a much wider time line, mountain men and the mountain man rendezvous are often synonymous with beaver and the Rocky Mountain rendezvous held between 1825 and 1840.
A Longhunter was an 18th-century explorer and hunter who made expeditions into the American frontier wilderness for as much as six months at a time. Parties of two or three men (rarely more) usually started their hunts in October and ended toward the end of March or early in April. Information gathered by longhunters in the 1760s and 1770s proved critical to the early settlement of Tennessee and Kentucky. Many longhunters were employed by land surveyors seeking to take advantage of the departure of the French from the Ohio Valley at the end of the Seven Years War. Some later helped guide settlers to Middle Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky.
Period trekking is a phrase recently coined to describe the act of a person going into the woods on a camping-like adventure using only items that would have been available to their specific time period. No group required!

Seminole War Reenactors
Photo Credit: Canva
Seminole War Reenactments (1817-1858)
The Seminole Wars were a series of three conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 18581. The First Seminole War (1817–18) began over attempts by U.S. authorities to recapture runaway Black slaves living among Seminole bands.
The Second Seminole War (1835–42) followed the refusal of most Seminoles to abandon the reservation that had been specifically established for them north of Lake Okeechobee and to relocate west of the Mississippi River.
The Third Seminole War (1855–58) resulted from renewed efforts to track down the Seminole remnant remaining in Florida.
Among the major battles that are the focus of many if not most of the Seminole War reenactments are: (Scott Massacre (1817), Dade Massacre (1835), Battle of Okeechobee (1837), Battle of Loxahatchee (1859) and others.

Seminole War Reenactors
Photo Credit: Canva

Texas Revolution Reenactments
Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Texas Revolution Reenactments (1836)
The Texas Revolution was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Texas Mexicans) in putting up armed resistance to the centralist government of Mexico. The battles of the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto were key events in this revolution, and reenactments are held annually to commemorate them.
The Battle of the Alamo was fought between the Republic of Texas and Mexico from February 23 to March 6, 1836. The Mexican army, led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas). All of the Texian defenders were killed.
The Goliad Massacre was an event that occurred on March 27, 1836, during the Texas Revolution. Following the Battle of Coleto Creek, Texian soldiers under Colonel James W. Fannin surrendered to the Mexican army. They were subsequently executed on orders from Santa Anna.
The Battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas. It was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Santa Anna’s Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes. The Texans shouted “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” as they attacked.

Texas Revolution Reenactments
Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


American Civil War Union Reenactors
Photo Credit: Canva
American Civil War Reenactments
Reenacting the Civil War began in earnest during the 1961-1965 Civil War centennial commemorations. These battles and events found a receptive audience, but public interest in reenactments faded by the late 1960s. Living history reenacting later grew due to the popularity of the 125th Anniversary Battles series (1986-1990) and the 130th Anniversary Battles series (1991-1995). Many historic battles and events were re-created during the 140th Anniversary Battles series (2001-2005), as well as the (2006-2010) 145th Battles Anniversary series which included more realistic reenactments of major battles such as Antietam and Gettysburg, followed by the 150th Anniversary series.
Unfortunately, mis-association of these historic battle reenactments that were taking place nationwide with racial issues following 2020 riots and protests caused some of the oldest and largest events to be changed to small living history events, if not canceled outright. Now in 2023, most of these seem to be fully reinstated, though you should check to make sure that the battle reenactments have not been removed. In one case (Genesee County Museum in Wheatland, NY), they not only eliminated the battle reenactments, they also banned any Confederate troop representation or anything related (flags) from the event entirely. Fortunately, this seems to be an exception, not a rule.
Native American Pow Wows ARE NOT REENACTMENTS
Lastly we wish to make a point that is obvious (and a bit ironic) given a little thought. All of the historical periods listed above are the more common ones reenacted by persons of any race or ethnicity who simply has an interest in them. The clothing and accoutrements of the era are researched and an outfit to match is made (or bought). In the case of military reenactors local reenactor units may be joined. Free-wheeling buckskinners have organizations as well. This is all to reenacte the material culure of a past era.
The ‘regalia’ worn by Native Americans at today’s pow wow is a representation of their current and very much ‘alive’ culture. They are not reenacting anything. In the nineteenth century, powwows “became homecoming celebrations, when families and communities separated by government removal could reunite,” according to the Smithsonian Institution. Today, powwows are held regularly all over the United States. Many ceremonies and customs were outlawed during the early reservation period. The Grass Dance being more social was one of the only events allowed. As so many Tribes were pushed together it was soon clear and necessary to transfer the traditions of the Grass Dance between Tribes. “Inter-Tribalism” began to emerge with the sharing of songs, dances, clothing, food and art. Gift giving and generosity became integral aspects of these early festivities and they are evident in any powwow today.
This isn’t intended to be an article on the subject, just to explain why we separate our Native American related articles and online resource information from those intended for historical reenactors. There are many blurred lines for reenactors that do relate to Native American material culture as many of the items produced overseas (i.e., glass beads and broadcloth), as well as the ubiquitous hairpipe first made of conch shell by the Dutch in New York, then of wooden pipestems and ultimaely of bone from a development partnership that inclued a Ponca chieftian, a trader, and an eastern U.S. manufacturer. Just in case someone has a ‘but’ to add, we acknowledge that some Native Americans take part in battle reenactments such as the ‘Battle of Little Bighorn’ and the ‘Dade Massacre’ of the 2nd Seminole War. These are exceptions in which they participate to tell an overall story of a shared past history.

Credit Above Photo: Smithsonian Institution from United States, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
The National Museum of the American Indian sponsored the National Powwow in 2002, 2005, and 2007 as a way of presenting to the public the diversity and social traditions of contemporary Native cultures. The above image is from the 2005 powwow.
Select 18th-19th Century Historic Reenactor, Rendezvous, Shooter & Camp Products from Crazy Crow
Mountain Man Clothing: Outfitting Buckskinners from Head to Foot
Whatever your historic reenactor needs (other than guns), Crazy Crow Trading Post has it! As the largest supplier of Native American Indian crafts and craft supplies (which are what rendezvous-lovers use as well) we have everything for all types of mountain man clothes and gear. From head to foot, we can outfit you (or help you make your own) to get you ready for your first (or fifty-first) mountain man rendezvous or black powder shooting event. We also supply French & Indian War, American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and American Civil War reenactors as well.
18th & 19th Century American Historic Reenactor & Rendezvous Camp Central
We’re also your historic reenactor, rendezvous & primitive camping supply center too. From cast iron firetools and cookware to wedge tents and a great selection of personal gear, we’ll have everything to make your stay at the French & Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, rendezvous, buckskinner, voyageur, Civil War or just your own primitive camping more authentic and enjoyable.
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