A medieval passion, a modern triumph
By Daniel Arens
One man’s passion for one of the oldest techniques of history recently won him a big honor at the national level.
Jeremiah Backhaus may not be a familiar face to many people from the Hazen area. But there’s a good chance they know his parents, Lance and Sharon.
The Backhaus family originally lived in Alaska, and from a young age, Jeremiah Backhaus began developing one of his guiding passions: forging. He built his first forge when he was only 7 years old, and his father bought him his first anvil.
“One thing I want to express is gratitude to my parents for encouraging me,” Backhaus said. “Even though the hobby was a little odd, they always supported me.”
Backhaus’s passion also connected him to other people in the forging and blacksmith trades. Besides his parents, he is also familiar with Kerwin and Sally Lund. Kerwin is a blacksmith who lives just east of Hazen, near the Crossroads.
