Celebrations mark the milestones of our lives. We get together with family and friends to have fun, eat, and to teach our children the reason we are celebrating. September, 13-14, 2008, marked the 109th Battle of Beecher Island Reunion.
The Battle of Beecher Island was fought 140 years ago. It is an amazing story of survival. General Forsyth and his scouts, numbering 50 men, defended against an attack by 1,000 Indians. The scouts survived on a small island in the Arikaree river for about a week until their rescue. You may read this piece of history in detail in, "The Battle of Beecher Island".
The reunion to commemorate the battle began 30 years later when some of the survivors went to search for the battle site, and to lay rocks to mark the site. They decided to revisit the site every year. To this day, the Beecher Island Battle Memorial Association has kept the reunion alive. They are to be congratulated for keeping the scouts memory and this remarkable piece of history alive. Local service groups volunteer to feed visitors and maintain the grounds and buildings.
The Battle of Beecher Island was fought 140 years ago. It is an amazing story of survival. General Forsyth and his scouts, numbering 50 men, defended against an attack by 1,000 Indians. The scouts survived on a small island in the Arikaree river for about a week until their rescue. You may read this piece of history in detail in, "The Battle of Beecher Island".
The reunion to commemorate the battle began 30 years later when some of the survivors went to search for the battle site, and to lay rocks to mark the site. They decided to revisit the site every year. To this day, the Beecher Island Battle Memorial Association has kept the reunion alive. They are to be congratulated for keeping the scouts memory and this remarkable piece of history alive. Local service groups volunteer to feed visitors and maintain the grounds and buildings.
My husband, Jerry and I, went to the reunion for the first time last year. We were impressed with the reverence of the gathering, and the family oriented activities, the quality of the concert, and the campground facilities (showers!), that we made a vow we would return. We returned this year on our motorcycle, riding to get there and setting our tent up in the pouring rain. The rain stopped as soon as we got our camp set up. We had beautiful clear skies for the remainder of the weekend. Our camp site was right next to the now-dry riverbed. We watched the muzzle load powder shoot, and learned a lot about that sport. The site is truly beautiful, and I would encourage you to visit this place anytime during the year. It is located several miles south of Wray, Colorado. It makes a beautiful motorcycle ride. We rode past a flock of turkeys both going to and coming from the Island.
We would like to join in the celebration again next year, hopefully joined by family and friends.
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