Camp Floyd is nearly a ghost town today compared to its heyday as a pre-Civil War Army quarters for watch-dogging the Mormons. When the war came in 1861, buildings were dismantled and soldiers departed back east, leaving only a cemetery, commissary building—now serving as the museum—and memories. During two major annual holiday weekends—Memorial Day and Labor Day—the park regains its old life as a military camp with the aid of Utah Civil War Association and its re-enactors—approximately 75 of them.
There’ll be gunslingers shooting blanks from period-era weapons, and they’ll even fire the Camp Floyd cannon. Leave the video games behind and throw some lead dice in Chuck-a-luck, join a game of rounders—like baseball—or let the kids tire themselves out with running hoops. Of course, there’ll be stews and pies a-bakin’ in Dutch ovens. So, oil up the bayonet and put on those dusty pantaloons or bonnets for a trip back in time.
Camp Floyd Days @ Camp Floyd State Park, 18035 W. 1540 North, Fairfield, 801-768-8932, Sept. 4-6, $2 museum entrance fee.
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