Civil War buffs from around West relive history

serve in the Union Army. Originally from Ohio, Wilson came to California for the Gold Rush, but when the war broke out in the early 1860s, he enlisted in the Union Army in California.

“And instead of sending him all the way to fight in the eastern theater of war, they stationed him at a frontier fort which was supposed to protect California from invasion by the Confederacy,” Low said. “If it hadn’t been for the Civil War, there’s a good chance he never would have passed over into Nevada from California.”

Low said that it’s sometimes difficult for locals to connect with the past because Las Vegas is always reinventing itself and because “new is king.”

“It’s just a question of figuring out a way to tell the story interestingly and engagingly, and I think this event does a great job of doing that,” Low said.

Lisa Coffey, a member of the Southern Nevada Living History Association who portrayed an officer’s wife during the re-enactment, said it’s a “love of history” and a “deep-rooted passion” that drives both her and her husband, Jason, to participate in living history.

Shelley Peters, a re-enactor who creates period clothing pieces including corsets and bonnets, expressed similar sentiments.

“We love doing living history,” Peters said. “We really research what the people wore, what they thought, what their attitudes were. It’s very important that we portray this to our younger generation, because if they don’t know what we went through and where we came from, how do they know how to go into the future?” Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@ reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.