FAIRFIELD, Utah -- Before Saturday, Feb. 20, the 8- and 9-year-old girls in Girl Scout Troop 2104 had never shot a muzzle-loader rifle or sewn a handkerchief doll. Neither had three 10-year-old friends from Pleasant Grove, Utah, or a pair of cousins from Eagle Mountain, Utah.

But after a day at the Fairfield Schoolhouse in Cedar Valley, everyone who'd come for "Camp Floyd Ladies Day" had played frontier games, done lessons on a slate, done laundry on a washboard and danced the Pattycake Polka. They learned about getting a portrait taken with a box-in-a-box camera.

They all knew what it was like to wear a dress with a hoop skirt and a little bit about playing "Graces" -- a game involving hoops and long sticks.

"No way in a million years could I survive wearing this," said Kelsey Jones, 10, from Pleasant Grove, as she tried to fit her hoop skirt neatly into her school desk seat.

"I'd have to wear a dress every day (if I was a pioneer)," said Carolyn Pedroza, 11, from Eagle Mountain. "And I'd probably miss my Gameboy and my Wii."

Eight-year-old Mackenzie Becker from Kaysville, Utah, wouldn't mind being a pioneer child if it meant she could ride horses and fire musket rifles. "It's cool!" she said.

"It feels heavy. It's longer and bigger than a BB gun," said Alexis Bustamante, 9, from Kaysville.

"I've shot guns before but this is different," said Kaye Powell, a Lehi resident and descendant of one of the original settlers. "It's really heavy."

Powell is pleased to see a history camp for girls offered at Camp Floyd largely because she values the stories and heritage of the town and partly because she has a granddaughter who can participate.

"There are just so many good memories here," said Powell.

Powell said Camp Ranger Mark Trotter and his staff have put together a pretty authentic 1860 camp experience.

Girls bring their lunch and come prepared to stay the day in the historic schoolhouse, which has been spruced up with curtains, fresh paint and cast-iron school desks.
They get to choose a gingham or cotton print dress made in the classic 1800s style. Some get bonnets.

They read from "McGuffy's First Eclectic Reader," the 1879 edition, and learn to stand primly by the side of their desks before they ask or answer a question.

"I've been here before (to Camp Floyd) so I'm not really surprised but I didn't really know that they (members of Johnston's Army sent to quell a rumored Mormon rebellion in 1858) burned the supplies," said Makayla Graham, 10, of Spanish Fork.

Sabrina Dalanheese, 10, of South Jordan, Utah, enjoyed doing laundry the old-fashioned way with a tub and a washboard. (She's seen it done like that in the movie "Snow White." But she was glad they didn't really use the kind of lye soap that burns the skin.

"Here we use the Ivory kind of lye soap," said Trotter.

"I like the outdoor spin cycle," said Marin Burraston, 9, of South Jordan, as she swung wet clothes around and around.

Trotter explained that women in the 1860s needed to be pretty self-sufficient and skilled at everything from sewing and cooking to firing a musket-loader.

"This is our winter camp activity," said Trotter. "We've targeted the Brownie and Junior Girl Scout age from 8-11. It also would work for Primary girls' activity days."

Girls pay $15 for the all-day session which includes a tea party with real bone china and a handkerchief doll kit.

"I think it's great," said troop leader Heather Wyler, who brought seven girls with her from Fruit Heights, Kaysville and South Jordan.

"He (Trotter) has put a lot of work into this," said Elaine Moon, a member of the Territorial Civilian Commission whose volunteers help staff the camp.

"I think I really liked playing the games," said Fiona Carmichael, 10, from Pleasant Grove.

Anilee Briscoe already considers herself an expert at Graces. "Other people just threw them. You have to go like this," she said, moving her arms in a fan pattern.

"I liked making our portraits," said Baelie Jo Jacobson, 8, of Eagle Mountain. "It's really fun."

For more information on camps for boys and girls at Camp Floyd State Park, call 801-768-8932.

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com