Taste of life in 1840s offered at FSNHS Labor Day weekend

Staff and volunteers at Fort Scott National Historic Site will bring to life an important part of Fort Scott's history this weekend.

A series of programs called Highlights in History detailing garrison life in Fort Scott during the 1840s will be offered to the public starting Saturday and continuing through Monday. Several local volunteers dressed as civilians and soldiers of the time period will use their skills and talents to present traditional living history activities and demonstrations throughout the Labor Day weekend.

Hourly programs will be offered each day in recognition of citizens who labored in Fort Scott during the mid-1800s.

On Saturday, visitors will be able to visit with the post surgeon about the ailments and cures of the period, help the post laundress with the washing of soldiers' clothes, and learn about the fort guardhouse and some of its prisoners. Local volunteer Ronda Anderson will present a program titled "A Walk in the Prairie" at 3 p.m. Saturday. Using actual samples and slides, Anderson will explore native wildflowers encountered by officers' wives living at Fort Scott during the 1840s.

Living history programs will continue Sunday and Monday as well.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, visitors will learn about Heiro Wilson, a prominent person in Fort Scott history who served as post sutler in the early 1840s and became one of the town's first citizens. Wilson witnessed Fort Scott evolve from the Permanent Indian Frontier period to eventually become the county seat of Bourbon County. In the process, he also witnessed many turbulent eras including Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War.

During a special tour at 2:30 p.m. Monday, staff and volunteers will reenact four different scenes in which soldiers or civilians in Fort Scott were involved in land ownership and property disputes. From 1842-1873, land and property disputes plagued Fort Scott as well as the rest of the United States. These issues helped define the U.S. as a nation during the mid-1800s, a FSNHS statement said.

Programs begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with a presentation by the post laundress, followed by a black powder artillery demonstration at 11 a.m. and a guided tour of the fort at 1 p.m. An artillery demonstration will also take place at 2 p.m. Saturday activities will conclude at 4 p.m. with a flag retreat.

Sunday events also begin at 10 a.m. with an artillery demonstration, followed by guided tours of the fort at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Another artillery demonstration will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday activities will also conclude at 4 p.m. with a flag retreat. Monday activities also include an artillery demonstration at 11 a.m., a guided tour at 1 p.m., and a flag retreat at 4 p.m.

FSNHS, a unit of the National Park Service, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is an entrance fee of $3 for adults 16 years of age and older. Children 15 years of age and younger are admitted free of charge.

For more information, call the site at (620) 223-0310, or visit www.nps.gov/fosc.