Picacho Peak Part I

Last weekend we made the trip to Picacho Peak State Park for the annual Civil War in the Southwest event. The park is about 25 miles north of Tucson, Arizona. It was the site of a skirmish between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War in 1861. It is known as the "western-most battle of the Civil War." Although we do not normally portray the Civil War era, our Indian War Period uniforms and tack are close enough. We just trade our campaign hats for kepis to create the illusion.

The horse corrals are set up first.  Horses are segregated by rank. 

We left Fort Huachuca on Friday afternoon and arrived at our camp site at about 3 pm. The first order of business is putting up the horse corral, then we set up the mess tent and fire pit, and lastly we set up whatever personal sleeping arrangements we intend to use. Some people bring recreational vehicles, some tents, some sleep in the horse trailers. We have been doing this for many years, so the camp goes up rather quickly.

Horse trailers sometimes serve as sleeping quarters.

It was fairly cool this year, which was a blessing. Some years it gets very hot in the desert and trying to wear dark blue wool uniforms can get a little uncomfortable. It was chilly sitting around the camp fire at night, but the weather was perfect for fighting Confederates.

An interesting variety of casual wear may sometimes be seen at the fire circle first thing in the morning.

Between battles, troopers may find unique ways of amusing themselves.  This trooper is trying to rope an escaped creosote bush.