Youths can learn about Pony Express

FAIRFIELD — Parents looking for something to do with the kids during Christmas break should bring them to meet the soldiers at Camp Floyd State Park on Dec. 29.

Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. staff members will be in full uniform and on hand to help youngsters appreciate the history of the camp in the Junior Pony Express Rider program.

"This is something we've wanted to do for a while," said Park Manager Mark Trotter. "We actually created the booklet last spring. We needed something to involve the kids when the family came to visit. It's purpose is to give the kids a way to connect."

Trotter said the workbook — filled with word searches, fill-in-the-blank puzzles and treasure hunts — succeeds at its mission.

"Where we had the kids asking the parents if they were ready to leave, now we have the parents asking the kids if they're ready yet. The kids want to stay," Trotter said.

The workbook is geared to the fourth-grade level but can also work for younger children if they have some help.

When the workbook is finished, the children get an official Pony Express wooden nickel and an opportunity to taste "hardtack," the common Camp Floyd soldier food in the 1850s.

The workbook, nickel award and hardtack cracker is included with the admission price of $2 per person or $6 per family to the museum.

Camp Floyd State Park is located in the town of Fairfield, 22 miles southwest of Lehi on U-73.

The camp, the largest military community in America in the Army's history, was established in 1858 to quell a Mormon rebellion that never materialized. Soldiers were stationed in the camp until they were recalled to the Civil War in 1861.

Artifacts gleaned from the area, maps and historical information have been collected and put on display in the state park commissary building.

For further information, call 768-8932.

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