All about me.

Many of the people who visit here first encountered me at a museum, historic site, school, or other venue. Frequently at such times I am dressed in period clothing and playing the role or talking about people from history. In such venues I'm often disinclined to talk about my modern self.

This site was set up so that I could simply avoid talking about myself yet still provide that information by simply passing along my business card. On this site you can learn a little more about me, my historic impressions, and my research and reenacting activities in Arizona and across the country.

One of the questions I frequently get asked is how I got started doing this. Hopefully this will answer some of those questions.

I encountered my first reenactor on a field trip to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield while attending the third grade in Springfield, MO. It was a memorable day that only added to the artifacts in the museums and walks through the canon strewn landscapes of the park. In the sixth grade a group of Civil War reenactors from the 2nd US Artillery and 23rd NY Infantry visited my elementary school in Flagstaff, AZ. Already enamored with stories of WWII and military history in general, their firing demonstrations as well as their invitation to come out and play soldier with them made a lasting impression on me in childhood.

While attending college in Idaho a friend invited me to go along to a park in Boise where the Idaho Civil War Volunteers were conducting a cannon firing and Civil War presentation. While there we were coaxed into putting on jackets and caps and participating in close order drill with them. Before the day was over we'd decided that this method of exploring history was for us and we went home excited and anxious to start gathering the gear needed to be Civil War Reenactors.

The group we were apart of wasn't a typical reenacting group and functioned more like a Civil War round table discussion group than a reenacting unit. While enthusiastic about the history, there wasn't a strong emphasis on reenacting authenticity and field craft. Being dirt poor and largely uninformed my friend's and my first efforts lacked much needed refinement and attention to detail. Far be it from anyone to mistake us for Civil War soldiers in those early days. From those shabby beginnings, I learned to sew and began improving my kit piece by piece. A short time later I moved to Arizona and became a part of a reenacting unit depicting the 8th Texas Cavalry and invested myself in learning to ride and researching that unit's history for several years. Over time my knowledge and quality of impression increased. Then as often happens, life interrupted my hobby and carried my out of Arizona for a short time. When I returned I found my old cavalry unit had largely fragmented and gone different directions.

The Arizona population had been growing older and diminishing in numbers for some time. The few groups that were still active seemed more interested in fighting over members and sitting around reminiscing about "the old days" rather than doing anything new. Eventually, I became involved with a small group of men that were strongly committed to authenticity in their impression as members of the 1st California Infantry. These "stitch-nazis," as other reenactors who are less focused on authentic uniforms and gear call them, increased my appreciation for historic authenticity and helped increase my insight and understanding of Civil War era material culture. As I participated with the group and other like minded reenactors around the country I gained greater insights and understanding of the challenges of 1860s military service through experiential archeology while embracing the physical challenges of marching, bivouacking, and dining like soldiers of the 1860s actually did. The more I faced the very real challenges of terrain, weather, diet, and duty the less enticing the sham battles of Civil War reenactments became. Sadly that group also grew older and less active and I find it largely necessary to travel out of state for quality reenacting events.

Increasingly, having gained a solid grounding in material culture and field craft, I've been largely concentrating on improving my interpretive skills and academic research. The last few years my focus has been on the Civil War era history of the Southwest. I spend a great deal of time in libraries and archives researching primary sources in order to expand my knowledge and challenge common assumptions. I still find time to play soldier at high quality immersive events but I am really more focused these days on presenting high quality, informative historic interpretation at museums, schools, historic sites, and reenactments. In 2010 I added a civilian impression to my repertoire and began learning letterpress skills in order to fill a need at the Sharlot Hall Museum where I regularly volunteer.

My current historical focus is on depicting a soldier in the 1st California Infantry or an Arizona pressman and researching the California Column and Arizona newspapers.

Outside of reenacting I had been with the University of Phoenix for 9 years, most recently as Media & Communications Manager. I was laid off in December 2010 and am currently exploring new opportunities. Other occupations I have engaged in include elementary school teacher, librarian, webmaster, bookkeeper, factory worker, construction worker, salesman, and even sandwich artist. As I am currently looking for work you can find out still more about me via LinkedIn.