FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Sundlov
May 10, 2008
(701) 572-9034
CONCERT FEATURING WILLISTON MUSICIAN, FLAG RAISING CEREMONY FEATURED AT FORT BUFORD STATE HISTORIC SITE MAY 17
WILLISTON – Join other visitors at the Fort Buford State Historic Site near Williston Saturday, May 17 to enjoy the first weekend of the fort's visitors' season. Visitors will be able to enjoy a formal military flag rasing ceremony followed by a concert. The day's events will begin at 11 a.m.
Williston musician Mick Soiseth will play a selection of songs to entertain the audience. A long-time guitarist with the very popular “Balderdash,” Mick will entertain the audience with a variety of songs that span the decades and include folk, country, the blues, and some comedic songs. As well as playing for “Balderdash,” Mick often performs solo and has played for a wide variety of local organizations and churches. Following Soiseth’s performance, the Fort Buford
6th Infantry Regiment Association will formally raise the flag at Fort Buford for the first time this season.
Following the concert and ceremony, visitors will be able to visit with the soldiers of the 6th Infantry. Additionally, visitors will also be able to enjoy tours and visit the exhibits at both Fort Buford and the nearby Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center.
Organized in 1962, the Fort Buford 6th Infantry Regiment Association is the oldest re-enactment group representing the post-Civil War era of the 1870s and 1880s in the United States. The 6th Infantry has in recent years become active in military encampments at state and national parks throughout the United States. Members of the 6th Infantry were also instrumental in organizing the multi-state Frontier Army of the Dakota, and continue to play an active role in promoting the historical development of the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence region.
An exhibit that opened in May 2006 in the Field Officer's Quarters at the site explores the life of a frontier military officer at Fort Buford and also examines the role of women at an army post. Life by the Bugle, a permanent exhibit, features several objects original to Fort Buford's days as a military post. Also, the fort's Officer of the Guard Building features an exhibit of objects from the State Historical Society of North Dakota's collections and period reproductions.
Visitors are also able to view the reconstructed 1870s-era frontier army barracks that opened to the public in 2004. Measuring 4,300 square feet, the barracks are located at its original location on the fort site. It is furnished and used by the Fort Buford 6th Infantry Regiment Association, which offers living history programming at the site.
The Fort Buford site, located 22 miles southwest of Williston, is managed and maintained by the state's history agency, the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The state acquired the Fort Buford property as a state historic site on June 22, 1931. Today, the site encompasses approximately 189 acres, including Confluence Park, where the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center is located.
Fort Buford was established as a military post in 1866 to guard the trails west and serve as a major supply depot, functioning until 1895. When the fort was decommissioned in 1895, it included more than 100 buildings and structures. Today, in addition to the Field Officer's Quarters where Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881, only two other original buildings remain, the Officer-of-the-Day Building and the stone powder magazine. A nearby fort cemetery also still exists.
During its 29-year history, Fort Buford was expanded twice – in 1867, using materials taken from the old Fort Union Trading Post site two miles west, and again in 1871. The fort eventually housed six companies of infantry and cavalry. Units stationed at the post included the 31st Infantry and the 6th Infantry, and the Black 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry. Called "buffalo soldiers" by the Indians, African-American servicemen were stationed at Fort Buford from 1891 to 1895.
Fort Buford played a role in campaigns against nonreservation Indians in the mid-1870s. The fort's surgeon, Major George E. Lord, was among those killed with Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. Many famous frontier personalities are part of the fort's history. Indian leaders detained as prisoners of war included the Nez Perce Chief Joseph, Gall, Crow King, and Sitting Bull. Yellowstone Kelly, a scout, and Colonel William B. Hazen served at the post.
For a detailed calendar of programs for 2008 at North Dakota's state historic sites, the North Dakota Heritage Center and the Pembina State Museum, contact the State Historical Society of North Dakota at (701) 328-2666 or visit the agency's web site at www.nd.gov/hist.
– 30 –