The first week of July, Austin, Jackson, and Landon went to a History Camp at Camp Floyd out in Fairfield (a few miles west of us). The rangers out there run a history camp every summer and they called for "enlistments" this year. They divided the boys up into Blue and Gray/North and South and taught them about the life of a soldier in the 1800's. They learned all about Johnston's Army, which was an army sent to Utah by President James Buchanan to crush the supposed "Mormon rebellion" which later came to be known as the "Utah War." The army was in Utah for about three years before they were called back East to help fight in the Civil War.
The boys learned a lot about life in the Army back then and also about their heritage, both the heritage of this valley we live in and the heritage of our country. They were particularly impacted by being on opposite sides of the Civil War. Austin fought for the North and Jackson and Landon fought for the South. Many opportunities arose that week to discuss the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf, and the thought of actual fighting between brothers was pretty impactful for them. I was really glad to see the boys get so excited about history and understand what freedom really means.
They marched, learned about formations, and learned how to fire "muskets" (cap guns).
They set up tents, learned about cannons and guns, practiced battle strategies, and even had a mock battle on the last day that we all got to come and watch.
Whey they had completed their three-day enlistment, they received an honorable discharge after a proper salute to their commanding officer.
They were pretty proud of the tents they set up, which were pretty much three pieces of wood, and that big canvas tarp. They LOVE the cap guns and have been having "battles" for the last three weeks! We've run out of caps a few times.
They got a lot of neat stuff at camp, including soldier hats, a T-shirt, a canteen, a knapsack, and a gun. They earned money for things they did right and lost it for things they did wrong which for Jackson and Landon was talking too much (surprise, surprise) and for Austin was gambling (hmmmm). Jackson and Landon were disappointed to find out that they were left with a bunch of Confederate money at the end of the battle. Austin had enough money (after the unfortunate gambling incident) to buy a set of marbles, and Jackson managed to pick up a few arrowheads at the "gift shop" before his money lost all its value. Smart move Jacks.
The boys really enjoyed their time at Camp and will definitely be going back. All those ruffians at the end of the line will be old enough in a few years to start their "basic training."
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10 comments:
Very cool! How old do they have to be to go? I want my boys to do that.
Looks like the boys had fun...and probably learned something too! Maybe I'll have to enlist my boys next year!!
That sounds like a totally cool experience. I would love to have my boy do that, too. He would so totally dig it.
If you remember, could you e-mail me the next time they call for "enlistments"? What a great experience.
The camp is for boys and girls ages 8 through 11, and the registration information came in about March I think. I'll forward it on when I get it next year. They do sessions all throughout the summer. I was really impressed! I never thought I'd see them so excited about "learning." It was a great experience for them.
I had no idea that they did that out there, that is so cool!
That is SOOOO cool! Oh man, I would have loved to do that as a kid. So fun! (Where was Colby? Was he too old?)
That does look so cool! Who wouldn't love that?
Colby was at Scout Camp with Jason that week, so he was having his own fun.
look at you all! enlisting your children into war and battle just to be rid of them! actually, that is really cool, i went to a dinosaur camp at that age. i would have preferred something like this.
how cool I didn't know about this... we usually go out there in sept. Fun fun
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