Frontier Military Days are held the fourth weekend in June from 1:00 to 4:00 at Fort Stevenson State Park hosted by the Fort Stevenson Foundation. They were busy both days, even with the cold and windy weather on Saturday.
(You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.)
There was a cannon firing at 1:00 and around 4:00 each day. They use the cannon that is at the Guardhouse. Around 3:30 they explained what they were doing, then shot it about 3 times. There is also a small cannon they use to shoot candy out of for the kids!
From 1-4 there were what was called encampment activities. There were ladies making food over fire, items for sale, candle maker, old rifles, music, hatchet throwing and black powder guns to shoot. In a large tent a lady showed us how to make butter and there were different games for people to play.
On Saturday a gentleman did a portrayal of buffalo hunter Yellowstone Vic Smith and on Sunday Captain Grant Marsh. 
There were free ice cream floats on Saturday and free pie and ice cream on Saturday (so good!), along with a pie baking contest on Sunday.
Sally, the Interpreter, had a program Friday evening to make whirly-gigs and Saturday morning there were toys at the Guardhouse that were the “old-time” toys. Saturday night was a game of FORTS (with prizes of course).
We added a new job this week. On Mondays we empty the mosquito trap and send the occupants to a State office to identify them.
And, of course, the scenery.
For more pictures, please click here.
We moved on to Fort Stevenson State Park near Garrison, ND on Wednesday, June 14th, which is recognized as the Walleye Capitol of the World”. The Park is located on the tip of a peninsula on the north shore of Lake Sakakawea, between de Trobriand Bay on the east and Garrison Bay on the west. There are two marinas with boat ramps, one with concessions. They have cabins, full service campsites, electrical only sites, primitive and tent sites. The Fort Stevenson Guardhouse is a replica of an original fort sally port guardhouse and acts as a visitor center and museum.
You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.
There was road construction near New Town and we got really dirty!
The day we got there we had orientation and then Curt was able to clean the coach and Jeep. The next day we took a drive to Bottineau to pick up ice cream from Pride Dairy. We drove a State pickup, pulled a trailer with 4 freezers and a generator on it. We picked up 126 containers, 2.5 gallons each, of ice cream. We have no idea how long this will last, but I’m thinking we probably won’t have to go back in the month we’re here.
Our camp hosting duties are similar to Lewis and Clark SP. We clean fire pits, pick up litter and sell firewood. There is also an ice freezer on our host site, so we sell ice also. We check comfort stations and vault toilets for cleanliness and toilet paper. We take off old reservation tickets, but here they are also stapled pieces of paper with reservation names and dates on them; so we have to take that off, along with the staples out. Our first weekend was almost full and we were busy cleaning fire pits and picking up litter as there hadn't been a camp host the first session. They have lots of fire pits!
They have an interpreter who does weekend programs on Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday night. This weekend she had Predator or Prey, Animal Tag and I Spy, along with a game of FORT (bingo).
For more pictures, please click here. This includes a few from our travel from Lewis and Clark SP, a few from Bottineau, the museum and information boards by the guardhouse, animals in the park and weather.
