The Frontier Regiment of the High Plains has been a source of historically-enriched fun for the Texas Panhandle and Pampa community for more than two decades now. From research and amateur archeology to live-action re-enactments, the group has contributed more than just a few wooden nickels to paint a realistic picture of Texas Panhandle history.
“Our group actually started in Pampa in 2000. We were actually an off-shoot of an organization down in Lubbock called the Fourth Cavalry Memorial Regiment formed back in the 1980s. Their (activities and research) were based off of Randall Mackenzie and the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. As they grew, they started to get more interest outside of the Lubbock area and eventually, they had a few members appear in this area (Upper Panhandle),” explained Chris Larson, President of Frontier Regiment.
Later, members of the group nearer to the Canyon, TX area formed another group, branching off of the first.
“Cavalry troops are arranged by companies.They formed what they called Company E based in Canyon, and then had some other groups from outside the Canyon area get involved. At that time, the Fourth Cavalry (based in Lubbock) was kind-of going away. They had lost membership and weren’t weren’t really quite as active anymore, so the group reformed in April 2000, calling themselves the Frontier Regiment of the High Plains.”
“They put out a call for members that would be interested in history and in frontier military history specific to the Texas Panhandle. And at that time, there was (a parallel) interest in a sequel to Dances with Wolves,” he said.
“It came out in 1990. It was first a book written by an author named Michael Blake, and it became a popular movie. It actually kind-of brought back the idea of Westerns in movies and led to several other movies that did pretty well.”
“Well, this author had written a sequel to Dances with Wolves, and the story of that sequel actually took place during the Red River War- which happened here in the Texas Panhandle in 1874. There was some interest in shooting that movie in the early 2000s, and the author actually came up here and scouted some locations. Some of the early members of the Frontier Regiment showed him around and were hoping to get involved with it. That led to a lot of members joining in the early 2000s, hoping that they would get to be in the movie, which ultimately never happened. But those that stayed with the group were the ones that were really interested in history.”
Larson wasn’t far behind the pioneer members of the Frontier Regiment, discovering the group only four years after its inception at a gun show in Amarillo.
“I got involved with this group in 2004. They (Frontier Regiment) were set up at a gun show here in Amarillo and were just talking to people as they walked by hoping to get people interested in joining the group. I couldn’t believe there was a group like that here in the Texas Panhandle.”
For Larson, it was the historical and archaeological aspects of the group he found enticing.
“I’ve been interested in the Indian war since I was a kid. My parents would take us on trips and sometimes we’d make little side stops at Frontier forts and battlefields. I started getting interested in getting books to learn more about it. And at some of these historical sites, there would be re-enactors. It just seemed like a fun thing to do. So, to be honest, the history side of it is what got me interested,” Larson shared.
What exactly are they doing in this neck of the woods?
“Ongoing research is one of the big things in the Frontier Regiment. I’m actually on the board of the White Deer Land Museum, and I’ve been designated as the Red River War historian. I was able to use a lot from my 20 years of research from the Frontier Regiment into the Red River War. It showcases all 17 of the major battles of the Red River War in chronological order. We’re hoping lots of people get to see that this year since it’s the 150th Anniversary,” Larson began.
The Frontier Regiment also strives to spark a love of history in Texas Panhandle youths.
“We usually do five or six (living history events) annually. We’re in a group called Windows on a Wider World (WOW), and the Pampa museums are in that group too. Basically, they bring in kids to listen to groups talk about history,” Larson said.
“The problem is our group has firearms, and so we can’t actually go to schools to do programs. So, museums are a real good source for us to work with. We can set up things at the museum and we get to do our thing there. We have rifles, pistols- our group even owns a Gatlin gun, which we have on display at WDLM in Pampa. They’ve been working with us so that we get to store it there too, which is great for the museum as well. We have cannons, and we get to fire blank cannon booms that the kids really enjoy.”
“That’s one of the main things. I think that helps our group because that’s how I got involved. When I was a young kid, I saw guys doing this type of thing. You could wear a uniform from 150 years ago and pretend like you’re a soldier, live like a soldier and even eat food like a soldier did.”
“We let them (kids) eat hard-tack, which are the army crackers from the Civil War onward. It’s basically just a ration of a hard, brick-like piece of bread. I always give kids a little piece of that and that lets them experience what it was like to be a soldier. That’s the stuff that grabs kids, those tactile experiences. Getting those kid’s imaginations when they’re young is a good thing to pass on that history,” he shared.
“We’re hoping to catch that kid that maybe hangs on to the wooden nickels we give out and looks at it sometime and thinks about it. You know, it’s history- not everybody’s interested in it. But, if you can get just a few when they’re young, maybe they’ll carry on.”
The Frontier Regiment’s next live reenactment event is scheduled at WDLM on April 19.
“We’ll be doing a program and we’ll probably be set up in the park behind the museum to demonstrate our Gatlin gun. We’ll have a cannon out there to shoot. It’s going to start I believe around 9 A.M. and go until just before lunch,” Larson said.
Wanted: Pard’ners
“Usually, (we have) somewhere around fifteen-or-so members from all over the Texas Panhandle. We’re always looking to get more members in our group,” Larson shared.
“We are really looking for more members this year. We’d love to be able to have as many members as possible. I’ve got uniforms like you wouldn’t believe”
“There was a historical documentary financed by the WDLM called The Contested Plains, and the Frontier Regiment was pretty heavily involved in that.We got to be involved with the filming, which was pretty neat, and got a lot of uniforms. So if people want to join, we have uniforms available that we can loan out. So, we’re just looking to fill the ranks this year,” he said.
“The positions that we have are basically just whatever anybody wants to wear for the uniform. I’ve been in the group for 20 years now, and I’m just a corporal.”
“If someone wants to portray the rank of someone, then we just require them to know what an officer of that time period would have. (For example), If you’re going to wear the rank of a military soldier from 150 years ago at a living history event, you should be able to act according to the procedures for an officer (at that rank).”
Historical accuracy is key for live re-enactment events.
“We really strive to be accurate to the time period and wear the correct uniforms as what would have been seen here in the Texas Panhandle and use the correct equipment. Their uniforms were worn and used and leftover from the Civil War a lot of times, so no two soldiers were necessarily wearing the same thing. So we like to really make it accurate and realistic,” Larson said.
“We’re not all (portraying) military (characters) though. We also accept scouts in our group, we’d love it if we can get some Native Americans portraying some of the Indian warriors. Buffalo hunters were also a big thing here in the Texas Panhandle. We even have some women in our group too that portray laundresses at Fort Elliott.”
“One of the other benefits of being in our group for people who love history and archaeology is we get to sometimes go to historical sites that have to do with the Red River War and the Texas Panhandle.”
“We’ve met the landowners (during) historical commemorations and developed relationships with them. Oftentimes, they let us do metal-detecting. In archaeology, we’re just amateurs, but we do it just for the love of history and finding out more about some of these battles There’s so much more that still can be discovered either dug up from under the ground or findings in military files,” Larson said.
To inquire about membership to the Frontier Regiment, send an e-mail to frontierregiment@gmail.com.
