Frontier Army Days depicts Fort Sill circa late-1800s

FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 15, 2015) -- Keith Rohlman is the curator of education with the Oklahoma Historical Society but on Oct. 9, he was a surgeon from the 1800s.

He, along with 43 other volunteers and museum staff, donned period clothing to become re-enactors during Fort Sill's Frontier Army Days, Oct. 9-10. As visitors arrived at Rohlman's surgeon set up, they had questions to ask.

"Most of them want to know what happens if they were shot in different areas," said Rohlman. "Usually the answer is, 'I cut it off or you die.' That's what they are mostly concerned about."

Rohlman, and other re-enactors, answered questions about their various roles during that time period. Re-enactors portrayed people who worked at post including infantry, cavalry and artillery men, Buffalo Soldiers, U.S. Marshals, laundresses and school teachers.

"We had [at Frontier Army Days those] who would have been here in the first five or six years of Fort Sill's existence," said Frank Siltman, director of museums and military history on Fort Sill. "For the [visitors] it gives them an opportunity to see, more in depth, our historic landmarks and facilities. They can walk around and listen to our audio tour, but when they can go into a building and talk to someone dressed in period clothing, it's much more of an immersive situation from which they gain a better understanding."

For the seventh year, Frontier Army Days gave the surrounding community a glimpse into life during the early days of Fort Sill. Siltman said visitors learned how the post's history intertwined with the area tribes and settlers.

"They get a better understanding of how Fort Sill fits, not just in Army history, but in Oklahoma history," said Siltman. "Fort Sill is the key to the development of this whole region and so we teach them how this place was developed."

Siltman said 1,000 students from 12 area schools attended the first day, walking in groups from one area of the Old Post Quadrangle to another. They battled cold temperatures and sporadic rain as they learned how to wash clothes and load cannons. Back at Rohlman's station, they learned about the evolution of medicine through the understanding of germ theory.

"The change is drastic," said Rohlman. "Amputations 150 years ago were about the same as they are now. The procedures haven't changed much. What has changed was the introduction of germ theory. Before, they weren't trained to wash their hands or tools. They didn't know how disease was transferred."

Rohlman said it was a single idea, the existence of germs, that changed the survival rates of Soldiers. He hopes that his interactions with students and adults will help them realize how much a single idea can influence others.

"The most important thing I try to get across is the power of their ideas," he said. "So many people have doubts, but one idea can change everything."