Prickett's Fort shakes off winter stiffness with antique rifle show
Feb. 23—FAIRMONT — Prickett's Fort is ready to come out of hibernation.
This weekend the fort will host its annual 18th Century Firearms and Accoutrements Show, which will feature weapons, tools and other frontier era products. The show will be at the fort from 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets to the show are $3.
"People can look forward to a little taste of history," Bill Schneider, one of the vendors, said. "A little taste of the 18th century and some 19th century items as well. You can actually handle stuff and see what it took to survive and live on the frontier in the 18th and 19th centuries."
Schneider and his wife, Heather, made the four and half hour trip from New York for the show. On Thursday, he was setting up, preparing his table with various reproduction items that would have been commonplace at a location like the fort. He offers a variety of period knifes, tools that help in loading and unloading a flintlock, and he'll also have a few flintlocks for sale as well as some original pieces from the 18th century.
Schneider has been a part of this space since he was 8 years old. While Schneider tends to the accouterments, his wife looks after 18th century cooking. The show is a portal to history, giving modern audiences a glimpse of how different modern life is from that of their ancestors.
"Everyday life, there's a lot of different than we have today," Schneider said. "We don't have Walmarts in the 18th century. You either had to make it yourself, or had to have something to barter for or you might have had to save up and maybe you sold the furs to actually buy it."
The vendors are key to the experience. Many, if not all, are often in costume and really sell more than a shopping experience.
"People come in and talk to the vendors," Greg Bray, director of the fort, said. "They'll get a history lesson because we've got a couple of excellent rifle builders that'll be here. They'll talk about the art and the artwork on their muzzle loaders. Everybody here is an artist of some sort. That's how it turns into an educational experience."
The rifles themselves tie into West Virginia's own heritage around hunting and firearms. Since mass produced weapons didn't exist in the 18th century, each rifle could be personalized and was a work of art in and of itself.
There's other hand industry displays as well.
"There will be some blacksmithing here, there's a wonderful scrimshander that does scrimshaw textile," Patrick Davis, another one of the vendors, said. "One of the ladies that actually works here does, spinning and weaving and everything, she's got textiles. There are gunsmiths here that will make flintlock rifles. Um, powderhorn, all kinds of variety from the 17th and 18th century."
Davis is a vendor specializing in leather goods, and has been working in the reenactment space for 40 years himself. He hails from Bridgeport, and is a member of the Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation. He has deep ties to the area himself, personally related to every person in the cemetery out there, he said. The show also provides an opportunity for the reenactment community to see each other once more.
"At the end of winter, we see each other that we haven't seen for months," Davis said. "You get some fascinating crafts that are all done by hand. Nothing is store bought or manufactured in China. Everything here is made by hand."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
