Mission San Luis Rey site of living history

By: ROB O'DELL - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 24, 2004 11:18 PM PST ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- More than 205 years old, the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside still teems with history. On Saturday that history came to life.

A small group re-enacted the stop that U.S. sailors, Marines and horseback-riding dragoons made at the mission in 1847 before marching to Los Angeles to fight in the battle that ended the U.S.-Mexican War in 1848.

Actors wore authentic uniforms and costumes to show children and adults a "living history" of the rest stop made just before the end of the war that led to California becoming a state in 1850.

Dressed in a sky-blue wool pants and a dark-blue, single-breasted wool overcoat complete with brass buttons, Steve Clugston played Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny ---- the leader of the American forces who stopped at the mission.

Clugston ---- as Kearny ---- was a crowd favorite, especially with children, because he showed off and displayed his weapons. Several children, including Alec Weaver of Manhattan Beach, said the guns were their favorite part. Fourth-grader Alec and his friend Ryan Erickson came to the Mission to help prepare for a report they were writing on the California missions.

Both broke into wide grins when talking about Kearny's guns: a musket and two smaller pistols. Kearny also showed off a long sword and demonstrated to onlookers how to hold it and attack with it.

Six-year-old Noah Sheffler of Rancho Penasquitos also was fascinated by the guns. Noah spent several minutes explaining how he shot a gun loaded with blanks, all the while smiling and holding up the spent blank produced by firing the gun.

Michelle Erickson said she appreciated how her children got to interact with the characters and see the authentic costumes and props.

"It's great that they have this living history (presentation), so (kids) get a better idea of what really happened," Erickson said.

"Yankee Bob" was a frontier scout dressed in tan buckskin pants with tassels, leather moccasins, a canvas shirt and a brown wool hat.

He showed onlookers how he was repairing his mochilla, the large leather covering on a Mexican saddle of that time. The mochilla made for a more comfortable ride, while its large pouches allowed soldiers to carry supplies.

Clugston, taking a break from playing Gen. Kearny for a few minutes, explained why he feels "living history" presentations like the one at the mission are important.

"Living history is an extension of how to teach people, particularly children ... in a way that reading or seeing a picture couldn't," Clugston said. "It comes alive. Children can see it was actual people that lived in the past."

Contact staff writer Rob O'Dell at (760) 901-4067 or rodell@nctimes.com.

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