EASTON — A new exhibit in downtown Easton featuring artifacts such as boats, punt guns and decoy ducks tells a history of waterfowl and the Chesapeake Bay.
The Outlaw Gunner exhibit is open at the Talbot Historical Society at 25 N. Washington St. It’s based off of “The Outlaw Gunner,” a 1971 book by Dr. Harry Walsh, a gunner who grew up on the Eastern Shore and served as the Waterfowl Festival’s first president and chairman.
Walsh’s son, Joe Walsh, worked with Executive Director Peggy Morey, Board Vice President George Meyer and many other Talbot Historical Society members to prepare the exhibit for its grand opening on July 11.
It’s another step in preserving his father’s legacy, the history of market gunners and the pastime of hunting on the Eastern Shore.
“It’s just something I have to do, telling the story of the book,” Joe Walsh said. “ … Keep it going so people don’t forget about these market gunners.”
The book, which was most recently republished four years ago, weaves together the sometimes-legal and sometimes-illegal stories of market gunners and the importance of conserving the Chesapeake Bay.
An original version of the book is on display in the exhibit, along with a bevy of artifacts. Some artifacts are on loan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while others are from Joe Walsh’s personal collection or from the Waterfowl Festival.
Walsh hopes the exhibit can play a part in illustrating the novelty of the lives of Eastern Shore watermen. He said his father grew up poor, like many other watermen, but that didn’t stop them from being “the nicest people in the world.”
In addition to his background as a gunner and waterfowl-lover, Harry Walsh had a long career as a surgeon and served during World War II.
“I don’t think people realized he went for years killing ducks and geese to live, but then really he focused the book on conservation,” Joe Walsh said.
In order to compile Eastern Shore stories, his father talked to friends and strangers alike about life as a market gunner. Harry Walsh soon realized that “these people were dying off,” his son said. “So their story, if it wasn’t told, would be lost.”
“Let’s remember what these people did, where the Eastern Shore came from,” Joe Walsh said. “ … The cool artifacts, punt guns, you don’t see anymore. These things, they have a whole story to tell.”
His favorite artifact in the exhibit is a gunning light made by Jim Cockey, a Kent Island carpenter and waterman. In the dark, it mesmerized ducks to lure them in towards a hunter.
While the exhibit holds a boatload of history, Walsh is mindful of what the future holds.
“The biggest thing is where do we go from here?” he asked. “The need for conservation, preserving the bay is more important than ever.”
Last week’s grand opening and the buy-in from the Talbot Historical Society meant a lot to Walsh. It’s his hope to preserve the market gunner way of life in the 20th century while raising conservation awareness, just as his father did for decades.
“I can see my dad looking down on me, saying, ‘Well done, son,’” Joe Walsh said.
The Outlaw Gunner exhibit is open through December, Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit talbothistory.org and theoutlawgunner.com.
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