Why is history such a numbing subject? It’s rightly one of the most fascinating. It’s stacked with stories – stories of adventure, suspense, drama, struggle, death, sorrow, triumph and liberation – things that really happened to actual people, and we still live with the repercussions. We are the children of history. We should feel alive and connected when we learn about it. Yet, as actual children, we were spoon fed a propagandized or sanitized version of it, full of dubious information that wrung any semblance of humanity from the tidy march of timelines. FunnyOrDie.com’s Drunk History or YouTube’s Epic Rap Battles of History are so popular because there are human conflicts and big personalities all over the place in history.
Maybe the city of Monterey’s History Fest can be a hangover remedy for the brain-anesthetizing downloads of data from lazy and uninspiring text books. It’s a full weekend of overlapping history coming alive all over the city.
“It’s a consortium of city, state parks and Monterey History and Art Association,” says Army historian Cameron Binkley. “Though other parties, like me for the Army, have gotten involved, those are the three agents. [They decided to] sponsor all of it together instead of each emphasizing the sites they have separately.”
It’s held in October because History Fest revolves around the anniversary of the signing of the state’s constitution, which happened in 1849. And it starts 1:30pm Thursday with a preamble of sorts called “The Three Historians,” in homage perhaps to the popular PBS opera broadcast “The Three Tenors.” It’s an evening of authoritative recollection of Monterey “facts, legends, misconceptions and… scandals” with historians Binkley, Dennis Copeland and Tim Thomas at the Museum of Monterey, where they’ll answer questions and show slides.
“This was first capital of California,” says Copeland, the city of Monterey’s historian and archivist. “It was a destination for the Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, Chinese. We have all this shared heritage, ethnic heritage, going back to the Native [Americans]. People can go from one venue to another and experience different aspects of that history.”
There’s a lull of inactivity on Friday, then a two-day flurry. There’s a pirate-themed treasure hunt that starts with a treasure map found at Stevenson House noon-4pm Saturday, leading kids and their families to different historic buildings around town.
Binkley, a well-respected authority on many local military matters, will take visitors on a van tour (9am and 11am Saturday) of the restricted Upper Presidio of the Defense Language Institute, including cavalry-era buildings, the Buffalo Soldiers’ barracks, Fort Mervine and more.
Down on the Lower Presidio, Copeland takes folks back in time (1pm and 2:45pm Saturday) to revisit explorer Vizcaino’s landing, soldier Portola and Father Junipero Serra’s claim of Monterey for Spain and Argentine pirate Bouchard’s attack. All this while a Civil War re-enactment encampment is kicking up dust in a tent town 10am-4pm Saturday and Sunday with their horses, muskets, artifacts and drills. Curious, though, how re-enactors favor the more distant and mythologized Civil War over more recent, relevant, explicit and ugly wars like, say, the Vietnam War. That might be an interesting line of questioning. This would be the weekend to get answers, from people who are zealous about accuracy and who can wring the human drama from the facts. A brief inquiry about the involvement of Civil War soldiers in the area yields much insight from Binkley.
“As far as Monterey, there wasn’t any [Civil War] actions that took place here. The army built Fort Mervine on the [Presidio] hill in 1847. Around 1851 they decided they didn’t really need to be in Monterey and they left.”
A few units were sent here during the Civil War, but did not stay long, he says.
As for the earlier arrival of Buffalo Soldiers, there was a squadron from the 9th Cavalry, returning from the Philippine-American War in 1902.
“They were stationed here without their horses,” Binkley says, “quartered in tents by the Chinese fishing village, today China Point, probably for reasons that you can speculate has to do with race.”
In other words, they had just fought and died overseas for the U.S. government, and returned home to be told, We don’t want you living near us.
Ironically, Binkley says, “The first soldier buried in the Presidio of Monterey cemetery, which is closed today, is Pvt. George Johnson, a Buffalo Soldier. He was the reason they started the cemetery.”
Elsewhere this weekend, there are walking tours of Pacific House, Custom House, Royal Presidio Chapel, Old Monterey Jail, Pacific Biological Laboratories and Cannery Row (this one, unlike the others, for a cost: $20/two tickets). On Fisherman’s Wharf, the Everything Italian! Christopher Columbus Celebration commemorates the bravery of the Italian explorer, but will it also acknowledge his willful arrogance about having landed in India when he was in the Americas? That’s why, after all, Native Americans were called Indians by generations of misguided Americans. History is sure fun to revisit. And it’s all free this weekend.
As a counterpoint to all the historical accuracy bound to be provided by the three historians attached to this festival, the improv comedians Mirth’O’Matics (1pm Sun) promise to muck it all up with a spontaneous history-centric performance at MoM.
A historical re-enactment of the 1849 California Constitutional Convention visits Colton Hall (2-3:30pm Sunday), revealing how complex history can be. In our first constitution, Article II, Sec. 1 states: “Every white male citizen of the United States, and every white male citizen of Mexico… shall be entitled to vote at all elections.” And Article 1, Sec. 18: “Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State.”
Even in the same document into which early Californians poured their highest aspirations, there are conflicting ideals. That sounds so very human.
MONTEREY HISTORY FEST happens 6:30-8pm Thu, 10am-4pm Sat-Sun, in various locations throughout Monterey. Free. 402-0298, www.HistoricMonterey.org
(1) comment
Well, what I was trying to say, " I wish we can do Civil War Battles but there were no Civil War Battles allowed" " We are allowed to perform Civil War Living History with Firing demo's only " " The field is just big enough for a firing demo, may be a decent size skirmish of Musket rifles of 15 against 15 to be in a relative safe zone of performance. May be down the road as the event grows in popularity, we can re-evaluate the event for expansion in other performance capabilities. But for right now, Living History with Firing Demo's is a fine performance.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.