Diggen' Dirt For Him: Across the Cumberland Gap

The mountains behind the camp

"The mist rolled across the mountain range behind the fort, hiding the peaks. It was a quiet evening at Martin's Station. Suddenly a Native's scream rent the air! The fort came alive with shouts. Men poured out of the gates and the women and children ran inside. Soon musket shot blazed from both sides! The crack of the guns reverberated off the mountains. Soon there were cabins on fire and it seemed as if the fort would be taken, but it was not to be. The frontier men rallied and pushed the natives back into the wilderness. As the cabins burned down to embers, life went back to the quiet mountain scene it had been only a short while before.”

As you've probably guessed I spent the weekend at Martin's Station in Virgina playing in the 1700s. This was a hobby I stumbled upon when a dear friend of mine introduced it to me two years ago at Martin's Station. After that first time, I was hooked! I know am her shadow at events. :)

As always with events, everyone shops at the vendors. There were people with demonstrations: a doctor, an indentured laundress (Maggie), and many others. Once the sun went down there was music and singing into the wee hours of the morning.

One of my favorite memories from this trip was on Saturday afternoon. I took my violin, a chair and plopped myself down under a tree near the fort and played. Before I knew it I had a crowd sitting and listening. I called over to my friend and told her I would play her favorite. Her favorite being the Gael and the Kiss from Last of the Mohicans. I played it once through and then a man came up asking how long it had taken me to learn it and other questions like that. He was trying to learn the piece and wanted to see how I played it to compare. As I half-played it to show the man how I played the piece, a Native came rushing up behind me to see if I was going to play it again. Apparently it is one of his favorite pieces and never gets tired of hearing it. It's amazing the people you meet at reenactments!

Well, it's only five more days until I leave for my internship! It's insane! I'm starting to get nervous now, but I think keeping busy with packing a planning will help a lot. Until next time!