Plans are being finalized for a milestone event at Wilderness Road State Park. This year mark’s the 10th anniversary of the Raid atMartin’s Station, the park’s annual signature event that has grown leaps and bounds since its humble beginnings.
In April of 2000, the first Raid atMartin’s Station was held before a moderate crowd of spectators gathered along a split-rail fence. They watched asCapt.Ebenezer Titus and Capt. Joseph Martin commanded a small band of militia as they fought to save Martin’s outpost from being burned to the ground by a scanty tribe of restless natives. That event featured less than 70 re-enactors, 12 vendors and 1 lonely cabin.
This May 7-9, 2010, more than 700 re-enactors and 40-plus vendors are expected to re-create the Raid at Martin’s Station before a crowd that last year was estimated at over 3,000. Also, that 1 lonely cabin has now been joined by another small cabin, a blacksmith and gunsmith shop, a hunter’s cabin, pig pen, spring house and of course the fort, which contains 6 cabins inside its palisade walls.
To honor the park, the Raid at Martin’s Station’s tenth anniversary and to those patriots who sacrificed their lives for liberty, Dann Jacobus is in the process of creating a painting of Joseph Martin’s return from the Cherokee campaign. The painting will be unveiled during the opening ceremonies of the Raid at Martin’s Station.
“I started working with Dann just over a year ago to develop a painting that would depict Joseph Martin and his men returning from a campaign, worn and tired,” stated park interpretive program manager Billy Heck. “This painting will pay tribute to the park staff and volunteers that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make the park and the fort such a success. I chose Dann for this project because I think his paintings are among the best I’ve seen and he has shown his support for the park and Martin’s Station with his previous paintings of staff and volunteers.”
Jacobus received his formal fine art education in New York. After his military service years, when he served as photographer and illustrator for the Army newspaper in Okinawa, Jacobus focused his artwork towards books and magazines on hunting, fishing and the outdoors.
History has always been of major interest for Jacobus, and his art moved in that direction when he began re-enacting and participating in living history events years ago. In creating his paintings, he draws from his research and outdoor experiences and blends them into his current work. He is a member of the NMLRA, the Contemporary Longrifle Association, the Honorable Company of Horners, the Lafayette Longrifles, the NRA and various other reenacting groups. He lives in Fuquay Farina, NC.
For more information onDann Jacobus, please call 275-445-3065.