During May 1963, the Smolin Gallery sponsored a month-long program of Happenings, Events, music, dance, chance theatre, etc. called the Yam Festival (“Yam” is “May” spelled backward). One of the many performances listed on the published calendar was The First and Second Wilderness, subtitled A Civil War Game. It was presented for one evening only—May 27.

When the spectator climbed four flights of stairs to the loft where the piece was being done, he found himself in a clean, freshly painted room about ninety feet long and twenty feet wide. Near the center of the space, the squares of a large game board had been laid out on the floor with tape. The usual rectangular grid pattern was extended by pyramids of squares at each end which ended in single squares marked “Washington” and “Richmond.” Blue and grey cardboard soldiers about two feet tall stood near the opposite ends of the board.