Larry Culbertson
Hello,
My name is Larry Culbertson, owner and head of events
for “Western Frontier Adventure.” This is a brief history of how we started, and
what we are about. I hope this gives you a good understanding about what
we have to offer people with our old west town.
Building of the town we
call “Millwood” started in 1998. We started by tearing down old barns and
abandoned buildings, trying to use as much recycled lumber as possible. Our goal
was to keep costs to a minimum, so we could afford to get the things we really
needed, such as props, carriages, buggies, and more horses. Rob Culbertson, my
cousin sprung the idea
of building such a town to me after him and my sons, Larry Jr., and Chad had
returned from the filming of “Ride with the Devil” in Pattonsburg, MO.
We knew after spending countless hours on the old west town set of "Ride with
the Devil" that an old west town, which was void of modern day things, such as
telephone lines, nearby houses, streets, or noise of the city is a thing of the
past, and would be not only be a great asset to movie makers, but to the
community around it. We knew that if we could achieve such a task,
that we would be among the very few places in Kansas or any part of the mid-west
for that matter, with an old west town that had an actual 360 degree view of
nothing modern. Picking the location for the town was simple my fathers
land and his fathers land was perfect, it was the
task of finding all the wood and materials we needed to start constructing the
buildings! The first building constructed was a log trapper's cabin,
located just below the road to where the old west town would be. We knew
that it was a mile ride from the gates, to the old west town, on the path we had
made, and that we needed some sort of scenery for people to see along the way,
so we also started a place for an Indian village as well.
Not too far
from the log trapper's cabin, resides our new 3 acre lake we just finished
building, which backs water all the way up to the trapper's cabin, making a for
a beautiful scenic picture. We plan to build a ferry made of logs to go
across the lake, which will carry wagons and horses across. This is to
depict what the Missouri River looked like back in the 1800's before being
dredged. Of course it's not a river, but with a direct shot across the
lake to the ferry, it doubles just as well for the Missouri. Coming along
the path further, we decided to let our herds of Longhorn roam free within the
vicinity, for a nice scenic view and also for if we decided to herd them into
the holding pens in the town.
By the end of 1998, the town was
gaining some attention. We had completed 8 buildings, and the local paper,
“The Leavenworth Times”, featured our town in an issue. We explained that the
sole purpose of the town, was for photo shoots, re-enactments, movies, personal
and company getaways, trail rides, etc…
Now 10 years later, we have
achieved our goal of building our old west town. We have a total of 14
buildings, all furnished inside and out! We have a two-story Saloon, First
National Bank, O.K. Corral, Blacksmith, Sheriff's Office, Log Cabin Jail,
Church, Barber
Shop, Bath House, Brothel, Lawyer's Office, Mercantile, Pony Express Station,
Trapper's Cabin, Indian village location, wagons, buggies, covered wagons,
props, outfits, etc… Every building is complete, inside and out with props and
items which were of the time period, between 1840-1880. We and fellow
re-enactors portray such characters as; cowboys, Indians, Confederate &
Union troops, Cavalry, Bushwhackers, Mountain Men, Saloon girls, portrayals of
Custer, The Earps, and more! This town has already sparked the interest
from such magazines as "Persimmon Hill", Cowboys & Indians, Wild West Magazine and "The American West". Our town
can also be seen in the future 2008 August issue of the “Wild West Magazine”.
During scheduled photo shoots, we have artists
and photographers from all over register to come and take photos of our
re-enactors doing scenes in the town. We will have 2 catered meals a day,
as well as refreshments available throughout the event. We do require a
registration fee for every artist/photographer wanting to attend the
event. The fee covers the cost of our catering service, refreshments,
flyers, transportation costs, etc., and the opportunity to take breathtaking
photos of our town and re-enactors. All events or tours can be paid for
via check, money order, or credit card on our website. The price list can be
found here on our website at: www.westernfrontieradventure.com, as well as the
link for credit card payments. Also, for all "Photo Shoots", the
re-enactors are only able to afford doing events like this, by the tips that the
artists/photographers give them for each shot or pose requested of them.
Directions, lodging facility information, and other information can be found on
our website as well.
We do ask that each person registering for one of
our schedule "Photo Shoots", do so ASAP because we can only accommodate up to 50
artists/photographers per "Photo Shoot". In the case that we get over
booked, we will keep records of all artists/photographers, and they are welcome
to attend our next upcoming event. We do offer personalized tours and
trail rides to the town as well, which we are more than happy to schedule with
people. We live close to the town, so we can be available on fairly short
notice.
I hope you enjoy our website and if you have any questions,
please feel free to contact us. For contact info, click on the link to the
left of the page labeled "contact info".
Sincerely,
Larry Culbertson