Living History makes a successful comeback

Fort Assinniboine saw a significant influx of attendees to their Living History event last Saturday, an event aimed at celebrating and providing education about the history of the fort and its effect on the area.

The event was a revival of activities pretty well shut down last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The North Central Montana Everything Antique Show, held the same weekend as Living History, also shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic but was back, running Friday through Sunday at the Great Northern Fairgrounds.

Havre Beneath the Streets did not go back to its full Living History activity with live actors and more at the displays due to not knowing what the status of the pandemic would be when planning would have been needed, but offered discounted tours Saturday. The organization plans to back to its normal fare next year, situation permitting.

The event at Fort Assinniboine sees volunteers and employees dressed in period garb, providing education and showing off artifacts and antiques associated the the fort.

The centerpiece of Living History is the Black Jack Wagon tours, which had attendees brought to the various historic buildings in the area to learn about the fort.

The wagon is named after Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the World War I American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front, who was stationed at Fort Assinniboine when he was a first lieutenant.

One attendee Saturday was Tom Dolph, whose bother was a member of the band that provided the live music, Sax Cadillac and the Other Brothers and Sistas Band.

Dolph said the event is a great reason to come to the fort and learn about the place.

"This is a piece of history you know," he said.

Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association Treasurer Lynda Taplin said this year 124 people took the tour, many more than most years and a refreshing change from last year, which saw practically no engagement at all due to the pandemic.

"We ran out of food and had to run into town and get some more," she said. "And that's never happened before."

Kirt Miller, who has been running tours at the fort for more than five years, and whose band provided live music for the event, said he's glad to see so many people came out to the event.

"This year was really good," Miller said, "People were really getting out for it."

He said Fort Assinniboine wasn't able to do much of anything for Living History last year due to the pandemic and it was a noticeable absence.

"It was a big hole," he said.

Miller said it represented a lost paycheck for him, but that was far less important than just not being able to do it.

He said his band hasn't played anything live in nearly 10 months and that tripped them up a bit at first this year, but they quickly recovered and he's happy with their performance.

"It was kind of a rough beginning, but after we got going it was alright," he said.

Miller said the fort is an integral part of Havre's history, having been the reason the town began in the first place.

He said while the railroad was the catalyst of the town's subsequent expansions, it began as a small collection of people who made businesses out of selling supplies like meat to the fort.

Fort Assinniboine restoration efforts continue

Despite the success of this year's event, Miller said, COVID-19 set the fort back significantly in terms of restoration projects and funds, but he hopes this is the beginning of a comeback.

"Nothing is going to make up for the loss of a whole year's worth of revenues, but (Living History) will give us a good impetus to push on through the rest of this season," he said.

Taplin also lamented the last year, which not only saw the effective cancellation of Living History, but also a massive reduction in business for the fort, as well as a dearth of grants that the association usually makes use of.

"It was dead. We didn't make any money," she said. "... Nothing got fixed."

The association has a number of projects it is working on at the moment, but their primary concern for now is repairing the roof of the Officers' Entertainment Hall, where Miller and the band played.

In an April interview, Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association Chair Ron VandenBoom said this project is the priority because the building's last remaining painting is in danger of sustaining water damage due to the disrepair of the roof, despite the association's best efforts to protect it.

Miller said Saturday that there are many items in the building they're hoping to restore in some capacity, but the roof project is the most immediate concern.

Taplin said the association is getting close to the funding goal for the project and they still have a couple of grants to hear about.

She said bids to start the roof repair are going out this week so work should start soon.

She said the association is sill receiving donations despite the pandemic and they're all appreciated, but they cannot make up for a year of lost revenue.

Miller said the building is an important and fascinating piece of local history, constructed from stone gathered from the Missouri River Breaks and playing host to plays, celebrations and parties throughout the time the fort was occupied.

Fort Assinniboine was built at the tail end of the Indian Wars, following the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the Battle of the Bear Paws. It was constructed in 1879 and operated until it was decommissioned in 1911.