By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Fort Larned wants to get the band back together. The historic fort once had a Post Band that played concerts containing period music. With the help of talented volunteers, the hope is to reignite that experience for Fort Larned National Historic Site visitors. Park Ranger Ben Long said that ultimately, the goal is to duplicate the sound of the 1860s.
"The eventual goal is to hopefully get either reproductions or original instruments to be able to replicate that sound even better," he said. "But there are parallels with brass instruments today that parallel that sound fairly closely."
There are no historical records of the fort having a Post Band though several regimental bands moved through the area. In the spring of 1867, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock left Fort Leavenworth and his 1,400 men reported west of Fort Larned in an effort to pacify plains Indians. Music would have been instrumental in those efforts, as it was during the Civil War.
"For the morale of the men, they realized throughout the military that was important," Long said. "There would be regimental bands that would march out in front of the regiment as they're marching to help boost morale and keep up that pace for marching on those long, hard marches."
Post Bands consisting of local high school musicians or teachers have been used at the fort. The goal now is to have 10-12 volunteers playing a variety of instruments like the tuba, trombone, French horn, and trumpet. A snare and bass drum will keep a cadence similar to the old marching routines.
"Our mission now with this new Post Band is to create a volunteer program that is able to sustain itself and isn't fully reliant on just one or two people," Long said. "We're hoping to be able to keep this going for many, many years to come, so we're looking for quality folks to not only participate, but eventually, we'll be looking for those to help with the leadership of it all."
Plans have not been finalized, but Long said the fort might have practices on the first Saturday of each month. The band would perform at each of the fort's annual events, including the Mess & Muster in April, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Fourth of July weekends, the Candlelight Tour in October, and the Christmas Open House in December. Volunteers can eventually purchase their own period clothing, but the fort can provide that in the interim. Musicians need not have a passion for history, but a passion for sharing music.
"What we're hoping to do is create that further connection not only for the volunteer but for the listeners as well as they'll be listening to music that would have been here over 150 years ago," said Long, "and just bolster that connection between the present and past."
Interested parties can call Fort Larned at (620) 285-6911, or email fols_internet@nps.gov.