Camp Floyd Gazette

Newsletter of the Friends of Camp Floyd Vol. 2 Fall 2013 No. 2 Curators Corner
This winter were planning on having a Murder Mystery night in the Fairfield Schoolhouse featuring the card games once played at Camp Floyd like Three Card Monte and Faro. Each visitor will be given an envelope of a character to play and an objective. After a fake murder occurs, the visitors will be given an additional envelope on their character and try to guess out who the murderer is. Hopefully it will be a fun filled event! We have the event scheduled for February 1st and check out our website for more details! This winter, we plan on working on a database of all the soldiers once stationed at Camp Floyd. The Camp Floyd museum is short on space and there are so many stories to tell. Using By Megan Keller Its the end of the busy season at Camp Floyd and its getting colder. This summer we had 96 kids experience our history camp and over 300 scouts/ leaders at Johnstons Army Adventure Camp for the year. Weve welcomed many field trips at the start of school year and were almost booked for field trips in the spring. With the success of this our history camps this year, in 2014 were adding 2 additional spaces in each of the camp for a total of 26 campers. We hope more kids can experience the history at Camp Floyd. this database, we can make the stories of Camp Floyd available to everyone. We have many visitors who come to Camp Floyd to inquire on a specific solider or individual in Fairfield. We want to provide these visitors more information through the database. It will be an ongoing project with more information added over time. This list will be storable by union/confederate soldiers and individual battles in the Civil War. We hope to gain a better understanding of how many soldiers involved in the Utah conflict fought against each other in each individual Civil War battle. This database will be available online and through a kiosk at the museum. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at MeganKeller@utah.gov. The premiere of the Camp Floyd documentary on August 17th was a success. You can now watch this short documentary at Camp Floyd or on youtube.

This is prototype of the database of soldiers stationed at Floyd which will be online and at the park.

Lectures at Camp Floyd

Christopher Corbett stopped by Camp Floyd on September 7th to speak about his book Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express. In addition to stopping in Fairfield, the Pony Express was started by the same company providing supplies to the Army at Camp Floyd. It was wonderful to have Corbett visit Camp Floyd and hear the fascinating story of the Pony Express. Audrey Godfrey spoke on the social history of Camp Floyd on October 26th. Godfrey wrote Housewives, Hussies, and Heroines, or Women of Johnstons Army published in the Utah Historical Quarterly and a thesis entitled A Social History of Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, 1858-1861.Audrey Godfrey is an independent historian writing about womens history, historic places, and Mormon history with a Masters in history from Utah State University.

Topographical Engineers was ordered to join the reinforcements headed to Utah. Ordered to join General Johnstons staff, his task was to map the roads in Utah Territory and to record something of the natural history of the region. To accomplish Ephriam D. Dickson III this task, Simpson was allowed to hire several civilian staff to Recently, I had the accompany him to Camp Floyd, opportunity to visit the including a taxidermist named Department of Ornithology at Charles S. McCarthy. Having the Smithsonians Museum of returned from an earlier Army Natural History in Washington, Charles S. McCarthy, standing in center, at expedition along the Mexican D.C. The large collection Camp Floyd with two other members of the border, McCarthy came storage area was filled with Simpson Expedition, William Lee at left and highly recommended. He was metal cabinets stacked two Lieut. J. L. Kirby Smith at right. Photograph dependable and sober, efficient high, each containing drawers in collecting and preparing filled with bird specimens from by Samuel C. Mills, another member of the birds and mammals skins, and around the world. I think this expedition. experienced in camp life on the is the cabinet, the collections in Utah, the printed tag read, Capt. J. frontier. Captain Simpson hired assistant said as he wheeled H. Simpson, U.S.A. I excitedly held McCarthy for $40 per month plus his a ladder over to one. He opened the the bird, a rare piece of Camp Floyds traveling expenses. door, slid out a drawer and then history. Departing Fort Leavenworth, brought down a small bird specimen In the spring of 1858, Capt. Kansas, at the end of May, the with a tag, yellowed with age, tied to James H. Simpson of the Corps of Simpson Expedition followed the its feet. Explorations with the army

Exploring the Natural History of Camp Floyd: Surviving Specimens from the Simpson Expedition, 1858-59

Detail of the original label.

St. Louis, a noted botanist, for identification. After arriving at Camp Floyd, the pair continued to collect natural history specimens through the winter. In the spring of 1859, Captain Simpson started on his famous trip across the Great Basin in an effort to find a short cut to southern A specimen of the Common Poorwill California. Ultimately, (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) collected by Charles the trail he identified was S. McCarthy on May 24, 1859 at Camp 21 in followed by the Overland the Ruby Valley, Nevada. Stage, the Pony Express and the transcontinental telegraph main California-Oregon trail across line. Charles McCarthy accompanied the Great Plains, with McCarthy collecting samples all along the way. He this trip west, continuing to collect specimens from this little known area. captured various small mammals and By the time that Simpsons birds that he then skinned, each with a exploratory party returned to label recording where he had collected it. Fish were carefully preserved in jars Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1859, McCarthy and Engelmann had packed of alcohol. McCarthy also collected and shipped hundreds of specimens amphibians and reptiles. Geologist that would now need to be identified Henry Engelmann collected rocks, and described for the final report. fossils and mineral samples and may No less than 258 bird skins and eggs, have helped McCarthy press plants for example, were cataloged. Most of to be sent back to Henrys brother in

the West. While over the years some of the original specimens have been lost or were traded to other museums, a surprising number of McCarthys taxidermy skins have survived, a legacy of his hard work under difficult circumstances. I have been searching through the Smithsonians old ledger books in an effort to identify all of the natural history specimens originally turned over by Captain Simpson and with the help of curatorial staff, we have been trying to find those that have survived within the current collection. Hopefully soon I will be able to share a complete natural history catalog for the Simpson Expedition of 1858-59.

the specimens were given to the Smithsonian Institution which had become the governmental repository for samples collected by Army explorations in

Ephriam D. Dickson has recently joined the education staff at the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He has over 20 years of professional museum experience, most recently as the curator of the Fort Douglas Museum in Salt Lake City.

The Friends of Camp Floyd added a fashion show to the Camp Floyd Days this past Labor Day weekend. Everyone enjoyed the show and it will become a Camp Floyd Days permanent addition.
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Words of an Intern
The Soldiers Project
Right now, I am working on what is known as the Soldiers Project. The Soldiers Project Camp Floyd is an awe-inspiring place that is a list being made that has all the names of has a rich history. It was once one of the the soldiers who were here back in 1858largest cities in Utah, but now is more of 1861. With every soldier, we try to find a ghost town. Only one military building information about who they were and what remains of the once 400 that used to be here side they served in the Civil War. At times, in 1858-1861. To be truly honest, before my the only information that has been found internship, I had no idea that this place even is a name. The lack of information is sad, existed. What a great opportunity it is, to true but any amount of information out work here in this amazing place with such there is welcomed. What a privilege it is, to incredible people. I have learned so much be one who helps find these people to be and I love coming to Camp Floyd. remembered and honored for coming so far, and for serving this great country! By: Emily Humphreys

Masonic Grant Brings New kids to Camp Floyd

Camp Floyd History Camps are three days aimed for kids age 8 to 11. Campers meet costumed interpreters, play 19th Century games, drill, march and set up a soldiers camp, fire an 1860s period firearm, and more. The camp is very successful and sells out months ahead of time. The Friends of Camp Floyd wanted to make the camp acessable to kids who might otherwise not be able to afford the registration fee. The Friends of Camp Floyd received a grant from the Masonic Foundation of Utah to provide scholarships for Camp Floyds History Camp for Kids this upcoming summer. The Masonic Foundation of Utah granted the Friends group $500 to sponsor four kids. The grant will pay for the $95 registration fee for the students and supply a $30 transportation stipend to pay for gas to and from Camp Floyd. Early in 2014, Camp Floyd will work with teachers to nominate kids for the scholarship. The kids will be asked to draw a picture or write why they would like to attend camp. Based on this info, the Friends of Camp Floyd will choose four kids for the scholarship. Look for more information on the scholarship in early 2014!

Camp Floyd acquired a new book featuring the letters of Captain Jesse Gove entitled The Utah Expedition: 18571858. Park Manager Mark Trotter is currently reading this fascinating history.

Friends of Camp Floyd is a not for profit 501c(3) organized in 2010 as a private educational partner to Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum. Friends of Camp Floyd invites you to be involved our orgainization. We assist Park Managament with activites, seek to facilitate the purchase of privately owned land within the boundaries of Camp Floyd, and want to have a Visitors Center/Museum and other replica buildings in this historic location. Information may be obtained by e-mailing the Friends of Camp Floyd President Russ Felt at Russ@feltonline.com. The Friends of Camp Floyd meets the first Thursday of each month at 7pm in the Lehi City Historical Archives at 2100 North and North Pointe Drive in the old Satellite Library Building.

Lucy Ann Bellows

By Pam Carson Lucy Ann Bellows, was a very pretty girl, she had long black hair. When the soldiers came into Payson (Utah), in 1858, Lucy Ann Bellows, was 20 years old. The Johnston Army had been sent to Payson, because so many people had been requested to move South from Salt Lake City. Lucy Ann Bellows, met a soldier, J.B. Bracken, who was there in Payson with Johnstons army. When the Johnstons army had served their time in Payson, and were called to leave, Lucy Ann Bellows and J.B. Bracken were married and she left with him, going back East. Some of the members of the family say she ran away with him, but after she was married and they left Payson, her family never heard from her again. She never let them know anything about where they lived, after she left. (written and submitted by Emma Jacobson in 1963 from several sources)

Lucy was born 11 October 1838, Jefferson County, Illinois. J.B. Bracken was a scout for General Albert Sidney Johnston, he was assigned to the 2nd Dragoons, Company I, 30 June 1858 at Camp Floyd, Utah. His commander was Captain and Bvt. Major Henry Hopkins Sibley. He is listed as an escort for Gen ASJ and that he was a private. There are many incidental stories associated with Camp Floyd. It would be fun to find what became of J.B. Bracken and his wife Lucy Ann Bellows Bracken. When the Civil War began there was a flurry of movement to close the Camp and hurry to other points in the East and even closer for involvement in battle. We encourage submission of stories like that of Lucy Ann Bellows that add to the history of this important part of Utah and even National History.

Sunday

Monday

November 2013
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 4 11 18 25 5 6 7 14 21 28 12 Cub Scout 13 Program 19 26 20 27

Friday 1

Saturday 2

3 10 17 24

8 Ladies of 9 Camp Floyd 15 22 29 16 23 30

Sunday 1 8 15 22 29

Monday 2 9 16 23 30

December 2013
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 3 4 5 12 19 26 10 Cub Scout 11 Program 17 24 31 18 25

Friday 6 13 20 27

Saturday 7 14 21 28

Sunday

Monday

January 2014
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 1 2 9 16 23 30 7 14 21 28 8 15 22 29 13 20 27

Friday 3 10 17 24 31

Saturday 4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

Adventure 6 Camp Registration Begins

Go to CampFloyd.Utah.gov to see all Camp Floyds events!