Hood County News from Granbury, Texas • Page 21

I nWI 1(515? Lo uvuCj Business, hobbies a by KATHY SMITH Lifestyles Editor frontier 0 8 LJL blast for 7 1 77- J- expert sss artillery -rM 'til ft Vfr if 'v -irif flv- rr- it." hi a i Intricate carvings, metal etchings and exotic woods make Anderson's hand-made frontier firearms true works of art. He stayed atTarleton and taught American History from 1991 to 1992. "I loved teaching," Anderson says. "Still do." Anderson says he "teaches" history every day of his life at Rendezvous began during the early 1 800s and were usually held during thesum-mer months. Mountain men, fur-traders and trappers gathered to tell stories, relax, trade beaver pelts and hunting deciding to form an artillery reenactment group, Anderson and friends-Dennis Petty, Robert Stone, Walter Baldree, Mark Beck, Randy Sims, John HCN pholoJeremy Enlow frkhT' If i For anyone who's ever attended a Civil War reenact-ment, the sight, smell and, especially, sound of a 12-cpound Howitzer cannon is thrilling.The earth shakes and the cannon's blast hits you like a fist square in the chest.

It's a feeling you won't soon forget. Taylor Anderson of Granbury remembers that feeling. It was what led to the formation of Anderson's Battery a Civil War reenact-ment artillery group he formed over eight years ago after attending a reenactment. "It was the big boom that we liked we were intrigued by it," laughed Anderson, a gentle giant of a man who sports a "gimme cap," a full beard and a perpetual pinch of tobacco. Anderson's ove of military artillery and history began early on.

When he was 1 1, Anderson asked his dad to buy him one of the '03 Springfield rifles sitting in a barrel at Gibson's department store in Fort Worth. His dad wouldn't buy him one, so Anderson made his own a flintlock rifle, made from junk parts. Not long afterwards, Anderson asked his dad to take him to a Rendezvous near Decatur. Hurley, Paul Gast and Preston Furlow built their first cannon, a full-scale 5-pound Mountain Howitzer with a sub-caliber bore. Anderson's Battery took the cannon to artillery competitions and competed with some very experienced cannoneers.

"We were pretty crummy the first year," remembers we tied for second for a couple of years and now we win or tie for first." The Battery's second cannon was a 12-pound full-scale Mountain Howitzer. The third cannon made by Anderson's Battery is a 6-pound field piece cannon that makes its presence known each year during the Gen.Granbury's Civil War Reenactment. The cannon is hitched to a caisson, or limber. photoJeremy Enlow JUL Anderson, (second from left) is shown with other r'eenactors while filming 'Rough Riders' in Bandera County in 1 996. has to be moved by only six men.

Because of the authenticity of Anderson's Battery's cannon and their own personal attention to detail, Anderson, the cannon andor the reenactment group are often called, upon to act in movies. "We took the cannon and did the 'Two For Fort Comanche Frontier Firearms, which he opened, with his wife Christine, in 1 991 Here, Anderson techniques. Present-day rendezvous are reenactments of the rendezvous of the past, complete with hobbies. She regularly accompanies Taylor to rendezvous and reenactments. Christine chose a rendez- vous to tell her husband that she was pregnant with their daughter Rebecca.

"Taylor fired the cannon to announce the happy news to the other rendezvouses," laughs Christine. When the time came for the blessed event, Anderson was building a gun for his daugh-ter. "Christine said it was time The 6th annual Granbury Civil War Reenactment will be black-powder shooting competitions. "Dad took me to my first rendezvous when I was 11 1 aiiijt fe. has the best of all worlds spending time with his wife, creating work-of-art vintage firearms, and visiting and -educating the countless number of gun and reenactment enthusiasts who held at the while I was working on the qun "recalls Anderson.

"We 'Prairie Creek Battlefield' on Hwy 51 South Oct.2-3 and dropped me off," chuckled Anderson. "AH I had with me was my rifle and a blanket. It Texas' movie with Tom Skerritt," Anderson says. "The director had us moving the cannon back and forth across the area 20 or 30 times. "Finally, when he saw us huffing, puffing and red-faced he asked us if the cannon was heavy.

He didn't realize how much it weighed. When I told him it weighed over 2 stop by. I) I Uy flV. took off for the hospital and after Rebecca was born I came home and finished the gun. The gun, a 75-caliber flintlock musket, hangs from the family's mantle.

Rebecca, 3, points ptoudly at the gun from time to time and musket!" "I figure she'll be able to shoot it when she reaches 6-feet tall," laughs Anderson. Anderson and his Battery are busy preparing for the 6th annual Granbury Reenactment, which will be held at the "Prairie Creek Battlefield" on Hwy 51 South Oct.2- 3. You'll recognize them by the big Anderson's Battery competes in artillery contests each year at Fort Sill, Okla. snowed that weekend!" Anderson won a turkey during that rendezvous by shooting an egg propped up on a 2 by 4 at 1 00 yards. He won after a shoot-off with veteran rendezvouser, Bob Woodall.

As Anderson grew up, his interest in military artillery and history increased as well. He received his bachelor of arts in history atTarleton State University and stayed to earn his Master's in history 2 years later. Anderson considers the firearms made for his customers to be a very personal thing and the pride he takes in each one is apparent. "I want that firearm to be that person's finest possession," stated Andersory'lt has to fit them." Intricate woodcarvings and metal etchings adorn most of the one-of-a-kind creations made by Anderson. Black-powder hand and long arms are not the only guns Anderson makes.

After Upon the limber is attached the ammunition box, which weighs an additional 900 pounds, bringing the total weight of the cannon and limber to close to 5,000 pounds something to be considered when the cannon tons, he said, 'Well, you poor We didn't have to move it too many times after that!" Anderson's wife Christine is a big supporter of her husband's business and Anderson, 35, developed his knowledge and love of frontier life at an early age. He was 17 when this photo was taken..