Military history buffs want to put on a show

A member of a group dedicated to military re-enactments says his group wants to start bringing military history to Hill County on a regular basis.

Thomas Huether of the 1st United States Volunteer Infantry re-enactors told the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Board Monday that his group would like to portray soldiers in Hill County once or twice a month.

“(We would) engage and entertain the public, talk a little bit from the perspective of the soldier,” Huether said during the board’s monthly meeting. “Have a living history as they come in and see the displays.”

Huether said his group, which has members across Montana and Wyoming, is focused on the Civil War, but also does Indian War re-enactments.

He said the 1st United States Volunteer Infantry was deployed west and participated in the Indian Wars, with a unit stationed at the Fort Benton trading post at one point.

The unit was formed during the Civil War, comprising “galvanized Yankees.” That term referred to Confederate soldiers who were offered their freedom if they fought for the North, alluding to galvanizing a metal by coating it with another metal, such as zinc, but leaving the true nature of the metal underneath. The term also was used for Union soldiers who fought for the South in exchange for their freedom.

“(The 1st United States Volunteer Infantry) was made up of former Confederate prisoners who were sitting in prisoner of war camps and were offered the chance to put on the blue … and were sent out west to guard the different forts,” Huether told the board.

The different units of the infantries made up of “galvanized Yankees” generally were not deployed to fight against their former fellow Confederate soldiers.

Museum Board Chair Judi Dritshulas asked Huether if his group was doing any re-enactments soon, saying she would like to see how it would fit in with the museum’s activities.

He said the group is doing re-enactments before the Custer’s Last Stand re-enactment the end of this month outside of Hardin, at the request of the Hardin Chamber of Commerce, and he is working with Randy Morger, chair of the Rivers and Plains Society that operates museums and historical sites in Fort Benton, to set up a re-enactment there in July.

He said the group can do re-enactments indoors or out, and a recent re-enactment in Great Falls was scheduled to be outdoors but moved inside due to weather.

Board members said the re-enactments would be very appropriate for events such as the Hands on History fundraiser, held by the museum’s funding foundation each April, or for Living History, held in the area each June.

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Online: 1st United States Volunteer Infantry group: http://www.1stunitedstatesvolunteerinfantry.com/