Frontier Days Saturday, Sunday at fort

Tribune archive photo Re-enactors in frontier-era clothing warm themselves around a campfire in a portrayal of events at the Fort Scott military installation during the 1800s.

Musical and dramatic presentations will be among the many activities scheduled for this weekend's Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Scott National Historic Site.

Frontier Days events will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday on the historic site grounds. There will also be a special campfire program at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, which will include various music and dramatic performances. Events on Sunday will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The theme of Frontier Days is "Trade and Transportation" and will highlight travel, trade and life along the Santa Fe Trail and the Military Road.

Highlights of Saturday's activities will include a program titled "Tale of Two Cities," which will begin at 1 p.m. Santa Fe Trail expert and Larned native David Clapsaddle will speak about the opening of the Santa Fe Trail and its development via the cities of Franklin, Mo., and Santa Fe, N.M. The former college professor will highlight the major points of the trail's development from 1821 through 1848. As part of his presentation, Clapsaddle will showcase several artifacts from the Santa Fe Trail.

Clapsaddle will also deliver the presentation at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Also taking place Saturday will be a program titled, "First Lady of the Santa Fe Trail," which will begin at 2 p.m. Globally recognized performer Van Ann Moore will portray Susan Magoffin, the famed female pioneer who was one of the first women to cross the Santa Fe Trail. Moore will be accompanied by Topeka guitarist Raul Gomez.

Saturday afternoon activities will also include a variety of presentations that will teach visitors about different aspects of frontier life. Among those will be "Westward Ho," a mounted riflemen presentation that will explain soldiers' role in westward expansion. Other activities will include an artillery demonstration, a presentation on frontier schooling and a program on the transport of food to the fort.

A special campfire program will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and will feature various musical and dramatic presentations.

In a program called "Trouble with Texans," park ranger Barry Geertsen will present a first-person narrative about a dragoon soldier patrolling the Santa Fe Trail in 1843. Geertsen will give the same performance at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Historical performer Kay Sebring-Roberts Kuhlmann will perform in a program titled, "Maid Marion of the Santa Fe Trail." Kuhlmann will portray a character based on the life of Marion Sloan Russell. In several passages across Kansas and into New Mexico Territory on the Santa Fe Trail, Russell helped her mother, who served as a wagon train cook.

Concluding Saturday evening's events will be a performance by The Gum Springs Serenaders. Carl Anderson and Dave Ryan will perform mid-19th-century music on authentic instruments, creating the popular sound of the antebellum period.

Many of Saturday's activities will also take place on Sunday. One addition will be a program titled, "Legacy of Nathan Boone," presented by historian David Roggensees. The Missouri Division of State Parks manager will speak about the role that Nathan and Daniel Boone played in America's westward expansion as well as how their roles are remembered by history. The program is set to begin at noon.

A guided tour of the fort will be given at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

There is an entrance fee of $3 for each adult aged 16 and over. Children 15 and under are admitted free of charge. For more information call the Fort Scott National Historic Site at (620) 223-0310 or visit its Web site at www.nps.gov/fosc.