Fort Lincoln, Mandan, ND. June 26, 2010. The park is the site of a military fort, a partially rebuilt Mandan earth lodge village, and the Custer House. General George Custer was sent here to fight in the Indian Wars after the Civil War ended. He was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. You can take a tour of his house, and there are also blockhouses on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri River that you can walk through.
We happened to be camping at Fort Lincoln the weekend that they have their big historical reinactment. We went up to the festivities with Grandpa. They had tents set up with different activities like clothes and dish washing, music, period clothing and toys and stuff for sale, and military drills. They shot off a cannon. Without warning anybody. It was LOUD. They had a tommy gun, too, but we didn't get to see them shoot it. They also did cavalry exercises, and we got to see a woman ride sidesaddle.
Cook was interested to learn that each of Custer's soldiers was issued a saber. They didn't use them in battle, generally, and didn't even carry them most of the time because of the added weight. The man behind the saddle knew a lot about military history and explained to Cook about their food rations, and that the soldiers would eat their hard tack dipped in bacon grease to make it softer and taste better. Nasty. It was a really interesting afternoon!
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