Prescott Group Recreates Spanish-American War

If it seems that some of the soldiers die more than once in a new History Channel documentary about the Spanish-American War of 1898, that's not one's imagination.

Members of the Arizona Rough Riders Historical Association based in Prescott lived that experience - or perhaps it's better to say they died it.

They didn't really mind repeatedly rejoining the fight because of the limited number of reenactors, except that it became a bit tiring for the older members of the association to conduct so many charges up the hills.

Jay Eby, 70, admitted that he made one big charge and then let himself die early the next two times.

While these Rough Rider reenactors have a bit more age under their belts, it's likely they have just as much enthusiasm as the men they emulate.

The guys were beyond excited when they got a call from the film crew asking them to come to Florida. The film crew got their contact information from the actor who portrayed Teddy Roosevelt in the documentary. They all met during a reenactment event at Pioneer Village north of Phoenix.

``They wanted practiced reenactors because of the safety concerns,'' Eby explained.

Along with experienced reenactors, the film crew got some knowledgeable historians. The local men were impressed that the director was amenable to changes to make the documentary more accurate.

The film details the hardships of the soldiers, as well as the broader implications of the first war that U.S. citizens could experience back home through film clips at movie theaters.

The local Rough Riders have about 25 members but only 12 could take off for the week to join in the filming.

All the filming took place in the Tampa area. Instead of charging Kettle and San Juan hills in Cuba, they charged up a couple old landfills, the only hills in sight around Tampa.

The documentary's narrator is Jack Stewart of Flagstaff, who wrote ``Cowboys in Uniform'' about the Rough Riders.

The reenactors camped out the whole week, just like the original Spanish-American War volunteers camped while awaiting orders to sail to Cuba.

It was a little cooler for the reenactors in November 2005, but it was hot enough for people not accustomed to such humidity and the mosquitoes that go along with it.

Association member Dan Taylor said one of his most memorable moments was seeing everyone at camp stop what they were doing and listen when he started playing the ``Star Spangled Banner'' on his trumpet.

All the bugle sounds in the film- except one- are from Taylor, a former classical musician with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra.

But the most famous Rough Rider around these parts was Capt. Buckey O'Neill, who resigned as Prescott's mayor to join up and then died on Kettle Hill.

The Rough Riders of today can recite all kinds of history about O'Neill.

O'Neill got his nickname from his ability to buck the odds at faro, Eby said. He was at various times Prescott's mayor, Yavapai County's sheriff and school superintendent, a local newspaper publisher, probate judge, land speculator and miner.

While O'Neill is buried near his father in Arlington Cemetery, a monument to him graces Prescott's courthouse plaza, where O'Neill planted many of the trees still standing today.

The Arizona Rough Riders Historical Association will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Buckey's statue with a ceremony this coming Fourth of July.

Thirty-four members of the Rough Riders Troop 1A from northern Arizona died in the war. Several, including Lt. Robert Patterson, are buried at Prescott's own national cemetery.

Rough Riders Major Alexander Brody, who had been a Prescott miner along with a military man, later became Arizona's governor. Author Charles Herner currently is working on a book about Brody.

``Buckey was the charisma that got the thing together,'' Eby said of the Arizona Rough Riders. ``Brody was the glue. He kept it together.''

Prescott was the center of the Rough Rider movement in Arizona. Troop 1 gathered at Fort Whipple on May 5, 1898. As the governor spoke with the troops on the plaza, the ladies presented them with red, white and blue hatbands.

The soldiers had a beer at the Palace Saloon on Whiskey Row and then marched a few blocks north to the train depot to head off to war, Eby related.