Information on the August 1-3 Central Arizona Expedition
Welcome to the homepage of the 1st California Infantry Living History Organization. We are not your typical Civil War reenacting unit. First and foremost we are a group of comrades in or out of uniform.
Our focus is squarely on understanding and presenting the history of the men of the California Column in the Far West. Towards that end we organize a number of immersive reenacting events, participate in living history and interpretive programs at a number of parks and museums, present programs to schools and other groups, and continually study and learn about our subject.
We are continually looking for ways to more accurately depict the men of the California Column. Our uniform and equipment standards are exacting and we are continually seeking ways we can improve the material aspects of endeavors. Our immersive events are rigorous and physically demanding and structured in such a way to provide experiences that will better help us understand the men we depict. We continually read and study to make sure we are presenting as accurate a picture of history as possible. We do all this as friends and comrades, working to lift one another on to new heights in our endeavors. We are actively recruiting and welcome inquiries from those who would like to know more about what we are doing. Our immersive events are generally scheduled to avoid conflicts with mainstream reenacting events and we actively encourage those of other units and groups to come out as guests..
While we do generally reenact outside the mainstream and are what many might call "hard-core" reenactors, we do frequently participate in activities with mainstream reenacting groups as part of our goal of helping to present an accurate picture of history. Far too many reenactors have a limited and even distorted view of history that they simply picked up from other reenactors without actually doing the research and study themselves. Frequently these reenactorisms express themselves in ways that limit the experience of the reenactor and their audience alike. One of our goals is to help one another, as well as our friends and audiences, to overcome these shortcomings (in areas well beyond poor gear and uniforms) and better understand and present accurate history.