These same students spend their days re-enacting the lives of folks at the fort in 1869. The characters they portray are based on the lives of actual people who lived at the fort during this time, although the names have been changed out of respect to any living relations to the people being portrayed. The students portray a cross-section of people in the fort. Representing various 19 th -century social classes, the interpreters tell about life at the fort from both the male and the female perspective. The characters include a private and his wife, a laundress at the fort, a quartermaster sergeant and an officer and his wife.
Visitors have the chance to hear all sides of the story.
In order to prepare for their jobs, the students study as much as they can about their characters. They complete a two-week training class and a required reading list. They pay for and receive two credits for their efforts. Every morning, before heading into the compound at 10 a.m., the group meets to read, research their roles further or find the answer to a question they couldn't answer the day before. Michael Maata, a history major and political science minor from Jacobsville, is in his second summer of portraying Private John Holmes.