Friday, May 3, 2013

Fort Ridgley



Ben and I are going to go back in time; we’re going to Fort Ridgley which is located between Fairfax and Sleepy Eye in South Central Minnesota. We went to the cemetery; there were so many head stones for little children, some dating back to 1800’s.

There’s a reenactment of the settlement, with tents and camp fires where they are cooking stew. Men in army caps and vests have old guns that work, called musket loaders. Ladies in long dresses, bonnets with their high top shoes, it makes you wonder how they survived in the heat of the summer with no flip flops or air conditioning.  
 
Farther down the Minnesota River you’ll see a store on a hill. It has everything in it that they had when it opened, flour, coffee, beans, spices and yard goods for the ladies to make a dress. Shovels, axes and candles for light, most of the time they didn’t have enough money for food, so eggs were brought in for trading.   

Children were always eager to go to the store; the clerk would give them a piece of candy if they had a big order.  Gardens were planted for fresh vegetables, venison and fish were their meat sources.

I could have lived there if the Indians weren't there; the Sioux Indians massacred all the settlers of Fort Ridgley.

By G. Brethorst

No comments:

Post a Comment