Fort Lowell at 150: A Look at Our Regional History
Saturday, March 18, 11 am-3 pm
$5 per person suggested donation given at the door
Fort Lowell was active from 1873 to 1891 during the Apache Wars. It is the successor to Camp Lowell, which was located in downtown Tucson from 1866-1873. The soldiers stationed at the fort were responsible for escorting and protecting wagon trains, protecting nearby settlers, guarding supplies, patrolling the border and conducting offensive operations against the Western and Chiricahua Apache tribes. The fort was abandoned at the end of the Apache Wars.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:00 am: Lecture on Military Medicine and 19th Century Amputations by Dr. Robert Hunter
11:30 am: Tour by archeologist Homer Thiel on the pre-history and cultural resources of the area
11:30 am: Tour of Fort Lowell Hospital Ruins
12:15 pm: Remarks by Councilman Paul Cunningham
1 pm: 4th Cavalry Regimental Band of Fort Lowell Performance
1:30 pm: Repeat of 11:30 am lecture by Homer Thiel and tour of the hospital
2 pm: Lecture on the Quirky Episodes of Danger and Death in the Santa Cruz Valley by Rick Collins, National Park Service
ON-GOING:
**Displays by the Mormon Battalion including a 1846 Replica Military Escort wagon
**Displays by the Buffalo Soldiers
**Display on 1870s baseball
**Blacksmith demonstrations
**Faro dealer demonstrations
**Display of 1870s US Army Uniforms
**Officer’s Quarters & Adkins Steel Property open to the public with neighborhood docents on-site to answer questions
**Re-enactors portraying:
**A Fort Lowell quartermaster who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and
provisions
**Louise Girard, wife of the Fort Lowell surgeon
**Lola Smith, wife of Fort Lowell quartermaster Gilbert Cole
**Fort Lowell ranchers
**Children’s activities:
**Make a pendant out of soapstone with a traditional-style drill
**Use the pre-historic tool known as an atlatl to throw arrows
**Play with Territorial Period toys and games
**Learn to write with a quill and ink