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The Texian Thanksgiving combines history, shopping, throwing competition
Families
can celebrate Thanksgiving "pioneer style" at the free
Annual Texian Thanksgiving Celebration and
Knife & Tomahawk Competition at Fort Martin Scott in
Fredericksburg during Thanksgiving weekend..
"We are all about teaching 1800s living
history," said Roy Neal, vice president of the Texian Heritage
Society. "This is history you won't read about
in the history books."
Neal and his compadres come from across the
country to recreate the era of the mountain men traders, the
pioneers who opened up the west for the wagon trains that followed.
They don period costume, demonstrate the use of typical tools, and
compete in throwing knives and tomahawks.
Visitors can observe cavalry re-enactors,
hear stories from Buffalo Soldiers, step inside a Native American
tipi, sample coffee and biscuits around a chuckwagon, and help build
fence using an authentic wire-making machine. For the first time a
blacksmith will set up a forge on site, and there will be men working
leather and making hats. Exhibitors not only demonstrate, but invite
visitors to try their hand at their skills, including how to throw a
tomahawk.
"These are
demonstrations of skills needed to actually survive," Neal said. "All
the exhibitors are eager to talk about their trade - that's why we are
here."
Many
vendors have tents filled with handmade arts and crafts, just in
time for holiday shopping.
"They
usually bring a little bit of everything - clothes, jewelry, knives, and
toys," Neal said. "If you want to look and dress like us, come out and
shop."
There are throwing and shooting
competitions all three days. On Friday afternoon, the archery
competition starts at 2 p.m., and features authentic longbows and wooden
arrows.
On Saturday and Sunday, the nation's top
throwers will compete in the Annual Thanksgiving Challenge Knife and
Tomahawk Throw. Neal, who
has won five major national and international
championships, will be joined by more than 30 of the
nation’s best professional and amateur throwers.
The Texian
Thanksgiving takes place at Fredericksburg's Fort Martin Scott, which
served as a U.S. Army fort from 1848-53. There are four main museum
structures to tour: the Visitor Center, two reconstructed officers
quarters, and the fort's guardhouse.
Gates are
open to the public daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The event is free.
Parking is $3 per car.
More
information is is available by calling Roy Neal at (830) 257-2942 or
(830) 285-0970. |
 Fort Martin
Scott
Historic Site ca. 1849-53
Fort Martin
Scott is owned by the city of Fredericksburg and operated by the
Historical Society. It open daily Tues- Sunday 10am-5pm
There is no
admission fee.
For the
link to the complete Fort website:
CLICK HERE
Visitors can try their hand at tossing a tomahawk
(demonstrated by Roy "Moses" Neal) while watching old west
interpreters recreate the frontier life at the Texian
Thanksgiving & Tomahawk Throw, held every fall at Fort Martin Scott
in Fredericksburg.
Buffalo
soldiers tell tales from history.
Chow
down on coffee and biscuits prepared at an authentic chuckwagon.
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