SECTION E Research and Persona Development for Cast Members. DEVEEOPINGA PERSONA: ·-nm�-�YNieDOES HISRESEARCH PART I By Edward C. Maurer his1ory a we ll-trained 'l f:.ic'L'' cvnEING ic, Ahave STUDENT learned haveOF misleading. It is aiso not uncommon reliabJe This is probably one of the'Lll' lirL!e faithan dthe "facts" of history for the author to put in his own ideas. greutest challenges the hi�torian asB they are related1 Lo me by to passing them off as tho,e of the person when researching a specifiL' 111e1c\ �nt in hei ng i ntervieweJ' Thc�e sources are subject. The hest \\ :.1y 10en�ure the gre:11c:,1 forces me research everything that k;.i-;! . history others. This more common than primary sources, accuracy is 10 use the "scienti fie h(lJ_ . times haveto heard the grizzled I use considering the number of biographers. which requires the use Llf at three buckskinnerin my living spew forthpursuit. information Too ma tha1_ny reporters and storytellers. And since there different. unconnected source� tn '- rnf� a sounded plausIible. at the lime. only LO findold are so many secondary sources. they are fact. These may be the ,wiemeni- uf three out later that he was full of, well, you frequently the fodder that makes up the different observers at a battle nr11 three know. worse, I've last type. known as the teniary source. different artists' views of a scene. If all that sources, once consideredn The tertiary, or··third·· source. is about three depict the same fact,. e c:in infallible.To make are matters jusl as misleading.fou Thisd as reliable as a flatlander with an generally consider the informJtinn to be is notmany mean old that the graybeardknow-it­ to IOU. Teniary sources commonly use accurate. On the olher hand. if an "ri �inu/ beall age-old book are They each secondary sources and sometimes primary item is found in a fort or simi!Jr pia,·c> and have theirto value, as a source sources as their sources of information. is depicted in a phmo. that i, ,ut Ii 'it'nt ideasor and signposts leadinguseless. to hidden And all too often they are just bunk. information to authenticate it. a� long as it facts-factsbest foundprimarilyin primary sources. of Although some tertiary sources are is accurately dated. Now, so bear with extremely reliable. because of the honesty Now. on to the goodThe Siegestuff. rm flrnna ,e for a few paragraphs we get to and professionalism of the llUthor, most startthis series with excerptsfrom Captain i:he neat stuff.this is Sothe whatdry pan. the are very questionahle. n John Knox· sjournal. o(Quehec heck is a primary source?until • Allow me 10 use an actual incide t to Written during his stay in America. theser j ..Th, ·· t' t h at nee d , someone excerpts cover the period f om ·"lnventing things and passing them off July 1757 through September Well, it's infonnation from . '. 8 S JUS W We 1760. This is a very good work �$=�::atj. e ic for the pre-1840 era. Be someone who hadn first-hand : li nt and it brings to ligh1 some e forewarned, some folks will do anything interesting facts and raises even ���;��i;_;ii: w::�t i�� 1£::��--�...� more interesting question,. I _for a buck. eludeart work, journals, asn well letters, as state-legal borrowed this boo!-; frnm\1;.i, Fred records,ments made pai bytings the and observer other Gowan J couple of : ear, ago or participant. Granted, verbal statements and �tudied it while I gn1ng by observers of the American Revolution to an Air Force leadt'r,hip arenot forthcoming.but written renditions illustrate this point. 1 had a question ahout academy that I didn't want ln auenJ They of those events may available. Also an item described and illustrared in a (my first sergeant and commamkr to he keep in mind that an old man's (or any sketch hook that came out several years exact) reminded me to ,;tud� ,o that 1 buckskinner' s) statementsbe about his youth ago. 1 hud heen researching 1he item for could pas: on what l learned are frequently embellished as gets older quite awhik hcfore rhe hnok ca!lle ,,t11. Being the nhcclicnl felltm that 1 am. I sober. He may actually be lying and the ,iuthor stmed that his rendilion studied 1he heck ou1 nf Knox·,;.i, _journal't' (hah but sometimes nthe factshe get clouded was authen.tic for the period in question. They weren't speci Ii about v.h;,it 1he� orwith less age or imagination.ot If they are written Well,'ljust had to find out whar hi� source wanted me 10 study. hut c.kiing 1 ·, hs·.:11 by an!), observer, they are considered was, so I wrote him and he was kind wld. I'm going lO share wh:.it l h!arncd primary ources. whereas renditions of enough ro reply. He !.lated1hat he liked the Knnx was born in lrclan<l anJ ,1t\111�ht rn interviews can be labeled secondary it/1•£1 or the item so much thar he just had the War Of Austrian Suci.:e,•,inn 117-1lll_�- . to includerhi.1 ii in his hook. He went on to say 48). For "gallant conduct" he a, maJ.:­ A secondary source is generally that he gol the dc'sign I fr11m :1 p:1inti11g an ensign in the Briti,h ,<?Ill;1r111y·, -HrJ sources.trustworthy, as long as it can sufficiently made in L·entury! He even went so far Fool. He purchased hi� rJn\.. ,11 iil'ulcn:111\ a.s to assign a d,11e In it That·, _just what in 1751. In 1757 he wa� ,rnI garri,,111 duty to Nova Scotia. formerly kn()11 n :1, n be we need. someunc inventing. things ;rnd ownsubsta interpretationtiated by another of a unrelatedsta1emem source, an passing them off a� au I hen Lie for the pre- Acudia. He died February 8. I 77S Knm 71. sinceattempt the to reco makerder it clearmay interject to the reader. his or This her 1840 <:>ra. Be forcwarnt'd, snrne fnlk, wi II In July l7."i7 Knnx v.rntc: is occasionally incorrect and canin be do anything for a bm:k. 11 So. how does one determine whether A hodynfruirgers, 1111dC'r rhr c"1111111111,/ the source used 10 authenticate an item is uf Capwi11 Rogns, ho 11rri1·,,d 11·i1l1 rh, MUZZLE LOADER 40 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1993 ----··---""=--- others. In December 1757 he wrote: only necessary that they are long enough to stick into the ice. Remember also that 1er troops from rhe southward... these ... they should be wide enough to fit ·ops ha1·e, at present. no particular comfortably on your winter moccasins. If these slippers [moccasins J are generally iform, only they wear their clothes shon, they are too narrow, they will pinch and J are armed wirh afirelock, tomahock made of the skin of beaver, elk, calf,sheep cause problems. small hatcher. and a scalping knife; a ,or other pliant leather, halfdressed: each This is a good place for me to mention ,/lock's horn.full of powder hangs under moggasin is of one in tire piece, joined or another advantage of using primary 'ir ight arm. by a belt from the left sewed up in the middle of the vamp, and r resources. Many of us who participate in JU der; and a learhem. or seal's skin closed behind like the quarters of a shoe; l Colonial-period activities, especially the �. buckled around their waist, which they have no additional sole or heel-piece, French and Indian War, think that knee 1gs down before, con1ai11s bullets and a and must be used with three or four frize breeches were the only type of pants worn. 1al/er slw1 of the si-:.eoffull-grown peas: socks, orfoldsof thickflannelwrapt round But in the following, written in April or sei·en of which. wi1h a ball, they the foot; they are tied on the in step with 1759, Knox speaks of wearing long 1era/lyv load: and their officersusually thongs of the same leather .... (53) The "elk" was most likely moose. elk trousers: rr a compass fixed in the bortoms of being the name used for this animal in ir powder horns,Y by which ro direct , Europe at the time. Frize, more commonly m when rhe_ happen to lose rhemsel1•es spelled "frieze:· is a "coarse woolen stuff rhe ll'nnds. 22 l .. .for this cause {prorecrion aJ!.ainst worn by poor folk" and flannel of this This excerptcontains some interesting mosquitos] we always wore long linen .Jtements concerning the uniforms and period was made of wool. not cotton trousers, with crape or green gauz.e nets (Gehret 281 ). Note that these are not the ,uipmenl used by Rogers· Rangers at the sewed to our hats... with a running string ne. Rogers· journal states that 40 men "shoe packs" commonly associated with (1 10) at the borrom to gather it round the neck ere sent to Nova Scotia to assist the soldiers and other whites of the time. occasionally." ;ulars sent there (Roby 38). The rangers Knox addressed the difficulty of winter I found this quite surprising. so I did what -�re not wearing clothes identifiable to footwear in the following quote, also from we should all do when we find something nox as uniforms, and having had their December 1757: we are not familiar with-I investigated 1ks increased by GeneralAbercrombie·s it. I've read many different accounts of jers of February 6.