2010 Public History Field School, Virginia City, MT
The 2010 Virginia City, Montana Public History Field School will focus on researching and writing a historical reenactment plan for the September 24, 1868 “Treaty With Shoshones, Bannacks, and Sheepeaters” (people who are now known as the Lemhi Shoshones) and Chief Tendoy’s cession document which was signed on January 3, 1870. The former, referred to as the Virginia City Treaty, was signed 15 miles north of Virginia City in present-day Laurin, Montana, and the latter was formalized in the “territorial headquarters” building in Virginia City, Montana Territory. Ultimately the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the treaty with the Lemhi Shoshones whose most famous member, Sacajawea, had accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1803 and 1806, but the historical importance of these two events form significant elements to the fabric of Virginia City and the region’s history.
National and state parks and museums are important history education “delivery systems,” and historical reenactments build on these alternative and popular ways for people to learn about history. (Virginia City and Nevada City typically draw 50,000 visitors annually.) Working with Montana Heritage Commission staff (who are skilled and experienced historical reenactment interpreters) and Lemhi Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock tribal members, student participants will conduct comprehensive research on all aspects of these two events. For instance, they will research and write draft script material, research period forms of clothing used by Indians and non-Indians, and, in the case of the treaty negotiations, they will locate and interpret the Lemhi Shoshone campsite near Laurin where 200 of Chief Tendoy’s people who attended the negotiations camped. They will also interpret the two written agreements which these two events produced. The 2010 Public History Field School’s draft historical reenactment document will be used as a guide for the Montana Heritage Commission staff and members of Shoshone Bannock Tribes of Idaho for a future historical reenactment event which will interpret these two historical milestones to the broader public.
Field School 2010 interviews on youtube ( features 13 separate interviews, click the “next arrow” to visit all videos):
osvingen.com 