Living History Days in Crestline continues through Sunday afternoon
Dozens of Native American warriors, British troops and colonial soldiers will clash this weekend in rural North Central Ohio.
The battle will be everything but bloody as the reenactors intend to be as realistic as possible without waging actual war.
The weekend will end the same way it did 241 years ago — Col. William Crawford will be captured, tortured and burned to death by native inhabitants who were trying to protect their people from foreign invaders.
Living History Days runs through Sunday afternoon at the Lowe-Volk Nature Center, 2401 Ohio 598, between Galion and Crestline. Admission is free.
'The textbooks don't do justice'
The notorious battle that led to the death of Crawford County's namesake was scheduled to be presented four times over the weekend, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
The reenactments take place less than a mile from where the colonel was captured, according to Mark Cory, a longtime history teacher who has portrayed Crawford for three decades.
"This is one of those stories that the textbooks don't do justice," Cory said. "You have to research it."
He dove into Crawford's history in 1977. He learned that Crawford was a close personal friend of George Washington, who surveyed with him as a young man and then fought alongside him in the 7th Virginia Militia later in life.
It was Washington who begged Crawford to come out of retirement and help defend the Ohio wilderness.
'Someone was going to suffer'
By June 1782, Crawford was marching across land that would eventually bare his name.
"The Revolutionary War didn’t end officially until June of 1783," Cory explained. "The Battle of Olentangy in June of 1782 and the capture of Col. Crawford are considered events of the American Revolutionary War."
Crawford had become friends with many of the Native Americans, but not all of his men shared that friendship. During the battle against members of the Seneca and Delaware tribes, soldiers massacred a group of women and children.
The native leaders knew Crawford had nothing to do with that massacre, but, when they caught him along the headwaters of the Sandusky River, they could not let him go.
"Someone was going to suffer for what was mostly women and children who were massacred," Cory said.
'Women followed the men to war'
Cory's portrayal of Crawford is just one of more than 70 different characters taking part in Living History Days throughout the weekend, according to Julie Rossington, the event's organizer.
"There are speakers inside the Nature Center," Rossington said. "You can go in and sit down and cool off and listen to the speakers on different topics."
The entire grounds is filled with encampments, many of which will offer items for guests to purchase. This year is expected to be the largest so far in the event's 20-year history.
The weekend is designed to be as historically accurate as possible. Visitors will not only see battles, but will get a taste of what home life was like for those who called the area home in the late 1700s.
Artisans on hand over the weekend will include blacksmiths, weavers, silversmiths and craftsmen.
"A lot of people don't know that women followed the men to war, so the camp followers are the women that followed along behind," Rossington said. "They had to keep the home fires burning at a tent in the middle of nowhere. So you'll be able to find out a little bit about that, too."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Living History Days in Crestline continues through Sunday afternoon
