On this day in 1865, the newly united United States of America, celebrated its first Independence Day after four years of civil war. Although far from the battle fields of the war, Dakota Territory was also affect by the conflict, especially its isolated soldiers. After spending the duration of the Civil War in Dakota Territory’s sparsely populated plains, the officers and soldiers of Fort Rice found the reuniting of their nation a meaningful reason to celebrate the Fourth of July with new found excitement.

The men of Fort Rice suspended all business for one day in order to properly acknowledge America’s day of independence. The events of this day were carefully and colorfully detailed in Fort Rice’s newspaper, the Frontier Scout. A newspaper written and published by, and for the soldiers at the fort.

On the morning of July 4, 1865, the men of Fort Rice welcomed sunrise with a 13 gun salute, and found the day to be cool, blustery, and damp with occasional sprinklings of rain. Far from dreary, the camp was decorated with soldier-made adornments; the mottos "4th July", "1776", and "Peace" painted on yellow scrolls, and two large wreaths bearing the initials of "George Washington" and "Abraham Lincoln" were hung at the entrance of the camp.

Surrounded by the patriotic art work of their fellows, the soldiers and officers of Fort Rice listened as Captain Adams compared the American people to Noah of the Old Testament. Just as Noah and his family were delivered, said Adams, so has the nation been delivered. "The ark of our liberties resting on a mountain forever immovable...the rainbow of peace extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific sea."
Speeches were quickly followed by the eagerly anticipated games of the day. The men of Fort Rice enthusiastically competed for money prizes in several contests, including a mile foot race, a blindfolded wheel barrel race, and horse races.

As the games finished, the mock dress parade began. Each soldier dressed himself in outrageous gear and armed himself with whatever he could find; pokers, brooms, and crutches, dresses, face paint, and three foot tall hats.

As the day came to an end one officer wrote, "the thirteen guns of evening, as in the morning, shook the dirt roofs of Fort Rice, and waked far echoes in the hills and ravines around, and the sun set on the happiest Fourth of all time, past, present, or to come." The men of Fort Rice then shared a feast of salmon, oysters, clams, peaches, and champagne; deliquesces rarely, if ever, seen at the fort.
After four years of division, America was celebrating her Independence Day as one nation. The men of Fort Rice honored their country, and celebrated the end of the war, in the best way they could; with games, good food, and true comradery.

By Ann Erling

Source:
"July 4th, 1865, at Fort Rice, D. T." The Frontier Scout, July 6, 1865.

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