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Siege at the Blockhouse 2009
Dates:
5/30/2009 - 5/1/2009
Location:
Anderson Blockhouse
Description:
The Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association presents
Siege at the Wilderness Road Blockhouse!
Saturday, May 30, 10 AM – 9 PM
Sunday May 31, 11 AM – 4 PM
Natural Tunnel State Park
The story that unfolds Saturday and Sunday , May 30-31 at the Blockhouse is set in the year 1775. Captain John Anderson of the Holston Militia has built a fortified home near the North fork of the Holston River. Daniel Boone has recently marked a path into Kentucky that will, over the next thirty years, be followed by hundreds of thousands of frontiersmen seeking to settle on America's frontier. Some of those travelers are camped near Anderson's home; and, nearby, some members of the Cherokee nation have come to trade. Throughout the day, please visit these areas to see life as it would have been in 18th century America west of the Appalachian mountains.
Saturday' s Schedule
10 Over Mountain Men Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution ceremony honoring Scott County patriots
11 Kentucky-bound settlers on horseback arrive
Portrayed by members of the Scott County Regional Horse Association
11:30 Horse Race
Frontiersmen and women ,and Native Americans gather to see who has the fastest horse. During this jollification, a hot-headed settler, Isaac Crabtree, murders one of the Cherokee with no cause. Turmoil erupts.
12 Daniel Boone instructs the settlers headed to Kentucky
The horse riders, upset and fearful because of the morning's events, decide to head on West. Boone gives them a talk about what to expect, and Rev. Samuel Doak offers prayer before they set out.
12:30 Atta Kulla Kulla, Cherokee Peace Chief
(Inside the Interpretative Center) Robert Rambo, sponsored by the Kentucky Humanities Council, appears as Atta Kulla Kulla, also called Little Carpenter. He will interpret the Cherokee viewpoint of America's frontier in 1775, and the events unfolding today at the Blockhouse.
2 PM Siege!
The frontier encampment has settled into a mood of relaxation. A musician is playing, folks are dancing, eating, visiting. Some children slip off to pick berries. The angry and affronted Cherokee snatch one of them. Once again all is in an uproar. Shooting breaks out between the two camps, and a Native woman is captured. Captain Joseph Martin, who is present with the militia forces from Martin's Station, and Captain Boone conduct a parlay with Atta Kulla Kulla, Oconostota, and others. They agree to swap t he captured child, a sister of Goodwife Rebecca Anderson, for the Indian woman. At the last moment, the young girl states her intent to remain with the Cherokee, who treat her well. Once again, the frontier camp and the Anderson family are in a disturbed and violent mood.
3 Tomahawk Throw 18th Century Medicine French and Indian War Memories
Viewers can see a contest with tomahawks. A surgeon treats a wound inflicted during the earlier violence. A veteran of the late conflict with the French relates his experiences from the early 1760s
4-7:30 Visit the two encampments for a taste of life on the edge of civilization in 1775
7:30 Campfire Stories
Mark and Sherry Finchum, and Ron Short entertain visitors with stories, music, and dance from the two cultures that met on the frontier of 1775 Virginia
8:30 Night Battle
Oconostota (Mark fFnchum) has explained that he must return to the Native encampent for a special ceremonial occasion. Frontiersmen gathered around the story tellers at the campfire mistake the sounds from the ceremony for an attack and another battle erupts between the two camps.
Sunday's Schedule
11:00 Frontier Worship Service
Join a typical 18th century worship service next to the Blockhouse.
12:00 Sunday Social
The Anderson Family, the encamped frontiersmen, and Captain Joseph Martin and his Militia from Fort Blackmore to the West will give the visitors a good look and taste of life on the edge of civilization in 1775.
Goodwife Crouch prepares bread, using the bake oven.
1 :00 Children's Activities
Children will enjoy participating in games and playing with toys from the period. Ron Short will provide stories and music.
2 :00 Frontier Justice and Freedom
See a militia drill. Isaac Crabtree, the instigator of Saturday's violence will be brought to justice. Captain Martin's talk, “Freedom,” expresses the attitudes found west of the mountains concerning the colonies' present conflict with Great Britain and its unreasonable demands.
