UWOL #3 "Fort Chadbourne" by Bruce Foreman
 

Some of the history:

This place is located roughly halfway between San Angelo and Abilene, just about an hour's drive from where I live.

The closest town is Bronte, Texas 12 miles Southeast of the fort. When established in 1852 it was in the middle of "nowhere", part of what would be a string of forts from Northeast Texas down to the Southwest.

Abandoned to the Confederacy at the beginning of the American civil war, it was reoccupied at the end of that war and patrols against hostile bands of Commanche, Kiowa, and Apache were based out there for the next two years.

With the establishent of Ft. Concho in 1867, Fort Chadbourne after that year was no longer fully manned, but used as an overnight stop for troops out of Ft Concho. Fort Chadbourne saw use as a station for the Butterfield Stage lines and eventually became privately owned.

The ruins of the fort on the Chadbourne Ranch are now being restored by the current owner with much of the funding coming from him. It is now open to the public and a fascinating place to tour. With the celebration taking place in May, I couldn't resist doing this one.

Parts of the place still look pretty rough and wild. Don't sit on the Cactus!

Link to the entry:
http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...chadbourne.mov

In my childhood we, the kids, always played cowboy & indian, and when the grown ups asked me what to be when I grew up, I said: "I'm gonna be an indian".
Great film Bruce, informational and from a historical point of view.
Your mix between comments, music and natural sound is well done.

I found myself wanting it to last longer. Great job.

Bruce

Bruce

I missed this one on the list, somehow. You got me fired up again.... I want to make a western......

Nice to have some period stuff to work with, and documentary with a bit of documdrama was a great way to go at the beginning.

Nice job...

If you can find a DVD copy, "Grey Owl" starring Pierce Brosnan, is based on a true life account of an Englishman who did just what you describe above. Very well done with excellent cinematography, I found this a most enjoyable film.

Thank you very much for your kind words. Like you, and Archie "Grey Owl" as long as I can remember I've felt an affinity for the Native American. And then a few years ago I found out there is a bit of Cherokee in me on my mother's side. She grew up in a time when that sort of thing had to be hidden.

And it will. The raw footage shot for this lays part of a foundation for a longer documentary on the Texas forts in this area.

I've been asked by the Director of Education at Fort Concho to do a 5 to 7 minute short that will "loop" in their visitor center. I agreed to do it in return for a signed release from everyone who appears in it so I can use it in the documentary.

Fort Concho is the best restored frontier fort in the west, too restored in my opinion. But the Fort Concho project will allow me to film living history unit and cavalry drills in a more controlled environment where I get to do more direction instead of having to catch it from the sidelines.

We get each other fired up on these things. When I realized May 4th and 5th would bring an event with re-enactors I just couldn't pass this approach up. I had to wait all day for the opportunity but finally got the cavalry unit to meet me off the grounds where we could get away from everyone for that intro sequence.

The one thing that was really missing was that there were no Indian re-enactors. These guys are getting so expensive they are getting $10,000 for a weekend appearance. If I were younger and could pull it off, I think I'd let my hair grow really long, dye it black; don paint, loincloth and deerskin leggings, and learn to mount a horse with only a blanket for saddle and woven grass halter for reins.

bruce, you definitely win for "most consistently unique approach to whatever themes i toss out there...."

is that a category??

great documentary of how things used to be , nice shots and great action. Keep em coming!!

Bruce, your videos keep impressing me.
I loved this one.

Good luck with the extended version you are going to make.

Bruce,
I think you did a real nice video here. You managed to give me a good insight to that time within your 3 min film.
Very nice cinematography and your narrating is like a professional. The Texan's at 1:25 was scary! Looked like he was gonna shoot you down!

Hey Bruce:

I agree with Meryem, you have a very unique way at looking at things, but why are we surprised at this one? There is nothing wilder than the wild, wild west.

Great video. Something like this to loop at a visitor center will be very enjoyable as well as informational.

Cat

Nice job Bruce! Thanks for the little history piece!

Was that live rounds in the rifles, or was it just blanks?

Canons can be so loud! Someone fired one off last year near me and I thought they were joking, but they were not and when it went off I felt like passing out... Not fun. I guess I should pay more attention next time...

Great job!
~Gabriel

I feel like I'm just trying to emulate the expertise I see here on this site. I am very impressed with the talent and professionalism demonstrated with each of these challenges.

When folks like you give me favorable feedback, that is a big part of my reward for having participated. Thanks!

The first time he did that it startled me so much I didn't even think to roll tape. Then I asked to see the revolver, it was an authentic working replica of a Smith & Wesson "break top" revolver that was actually seeing Western frontier use before the Colt Peacemaker.

Then when I saw there were no cartridges in it I had him draw and point while tape was rolling. Many re-enactors were wearing "six guns" that were working replicas but not loaded. All seemed to be very aware of safety.

The cavalry were carrying working replicas of Spencer carbines, average cost about $1200; it gets very expensive for these folks. Each buys his own replica period weapons, uniforms, and provides his own horse and authentic cavalry saddle.

As a side note: I asked several if they felt a sense of history while doing this and to a man the answer was, "Absolutely".

Either black powder or Pyrodex subsitute with soft wad to enclose the powder in the barrel. I'm thinking black powder because they would load a charge from a powder flask on a sling. Pyrodex I've seen comes in pellets (developed for modern muzzle loading hunting rifles).

Even though no projectile was loaded, they still herded all spectators off to the side before doing a demonstration.

The camcorder did not record how loud they really were. Those cannon will literally rattle one's fillings.

Looks like I'll be doing more of this. At a conference on a Fort Concho video project yesterday I was asked if I would consider doing a training video for crews on period artillery.

This was definitely a different and exciting take on the wild. I liked the way the film started out in a totally historical way, like a western, then looped through the juxtaposition of the actors looking like they were from the past mingling with everyday people, and then ended going back in time. Some of the events were really exciting that you captured on film. This will be a great piece for a visitor center, and a documentary- good luck with your work on both of those.

Ruth

It's made easier by the fact that most of these re-enactors take their history pretty seriously and try to keep things as accurate and authentic as possible.

So these folks kept me "straight".

It was also a great help that the event at Fort Chadbourne (out in the country) is much smaller than the big ones at Fort Concho (in San Angelo city limits) and visitors are allowed out on the parade grounds while cavalry and Texas Rangers ride around in formation.

As a result of this short I've come to the attention of the Director of Education at Fort Concho and his attention to historic detail is very strict.

You're the first to comment on the "mingling" of past and present aspect. I could have carefully made all of my clips so as to not show vehicles in the background or folks in modern dress, but the appeal of this kind of event is that the re-enactors make themselves available to folks who want to get close and ask questions.

Toddlers love to be held up so they can pet the horses and folks get a close look at clothing and accessories.

The past can and does mingle with the present so I deliberately allowed people in modern dress to show.

And Ruth, I enjoyed your entry also. That young lady of yours gets more charming with each project you do.

I don't suppose there's a tee shirt for that, too? (kidding of course)