Civil War in Pipestone!!!

Photo By Brian Korthals - Worthington Globe - 2010

This past weekend marked the 8th time our little city served as host to an event celebrating the times of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Each successive event has been better and bigger since the first small version in 1992. Originally we selfishly thought everyone would love this event when we started it all those years ago. It wasn't until after the first one was a minor success that we even considered the possibility that many factors (weather, competition from other local events, badly spent advertizing money or bad planning) could have made the event we loved so much a failure from the beginning.

The first four of these Civil War Days events I served in the capacity of a Union Infantry Soldier, as well as the Chairman of the committee put together from local residents and business people from the Pipestone area.

A few examples of wet plate photographs I took over the Civil War Weekend:

Rebs of the 4th Alabama Infantry

Tintype by Dave Rambow- 2010

Brothers

Ambrotype by Dave Rambow- 2010

President Lincoln and Secretary Nicolay

Ambrotype by Dave Rambow- 2010

Hartquist, The Undertaker
Tintype by Dave Rambow- 2010

Keturah and Lisa

Ambrotype by Dave Rambow- 2010

Gia was such a big help to me on Saturday and the rush we went through on Sunday morning (and she looked so adorable in her dress.) Tom assisted on Sunday afternoon and helped me set up and take down all the equipment and tentage. Now the final step is to get these packaged and ready to ship to the subjects who ordered them.

Replicas of Nina and Pinta dock at McGregor

 

In their second year sailing together, the Nina and the Pinta docked and overnighted along the Mississippi River at McGregor Landing Tuesday evening, causing much excitement among us 'landlubbers' who happened to be in teh area to watch them arrive. The ships are replicas of what Portuguese explorer Christopher Columbus used to sail across the Atlantic Ocean more than 500 years ago.

Captain Kyle Frieauf heads up the Nina, which has been called the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built. He’s been with the Columbus Foundation for about six years. Frieauf says he slept through history class as a kid and now that he’s older, especially since he’s captaining a historic ship, his interest in history has been rekindled and he’s learning a lot.

Frieauf is one of six members of the crew on the Nina while the Pinta has a crew of eight. He says they’ve sailed up dozens of rivers while also spending time on both coasts, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. He says it’s a fun adventure and he feels like Columbus as there’s something new around every turn.

The ships will be in Davenport this weekend before setting sail downriver toward the gulf on Monday. For a complete schedule, go online at http://www.thenina.com/