Candlelight Tour transforms Old Fort

The Fort Scott National Historic Site will soon undergo its yearly transformation for a long-standing holiday tradition.

The Candlelight Tour, an event that takes place each holiday season at the historic site, has been a tradition in Fort Scott for nearly 30 years. During the tour, visitors will be able to watch volunteer re-enactors dressed in mid-1800s costumes give living history presentations, and take a tour of the historic fort, which will be lit by more than 700 candles for the event.

This year's event will focus on events that took place during various Decembers at Fort Scott from the 1840s through the Civil War. During that time, soldiers and citizens of Fort Scott helped to advance the cause of freedom on the frontier. Westward expansion in the 1840s opened up opportunities and more freedoms for many Americans, while limiting them for other people, a statement from the site said.

During the 1850s, several different ideas of freedom converged at Fort Scott during the Bleeding Kansas era as conflict arose over the status of slavery in Kansas Territory. The Civil War meant emancipation of equality and freedom as African Americans and American Indians joined the army at Fort Scott. Scenes that will be reenacted during the Candlelight Tour will reflect the concept of freedom during this time period, the FSNHS statement said.

Scenes will include a gathering honoring soldiers returning victorious from war in December 1848; citizens discussing the emergency of Kansas as a free state in December 1859; and Union Army officers and African American soldiers making eager preparations for a celebration of emancipation in December 1862.

Tour organizers said about 80 volunteers helped make last year's event memorable for 570 participants who attended the event throughout the weekend. Last year's tour paid tribute to events that occurred in Fort Scott in 1858, a chaotic year for Fort Scott as two conflicting notions of justice clashed during that time.

The hour-long walking tours will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, and a new tour will begin every 15 minutes until 9 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 5, the tours will run from 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations are required and advanced purchase is recommended as there is a limited number of tickets available. There is a limit of 25 people for each tour.

Tickets, which became available Monday and are not refundable, may be picked up at the site or reserved by calling (620) 223-0310. Payments can be made via cash, check or charge. Tickets cost $7 for adults, while children 5 years of age and younger will be admitted free of charge.

The tour is sponsored by Western National Parks Association. All proceeds generated cover the cost of conducting the tours.

For more information, call the site or visit the FSNHS Web site at www.nps.gov/fosc.