I Thought I Was Going To Watch a War But Ended Up At a Band Concert

Every year, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue provides support during the Civil War reenactment at Picacho Peak State Park. I go along as a camp follower while my wife and daughter point people in the right direction.

The Confederates had quite a few heavy artillery. I counted at least seven wheeled guns for the Confederates while the Union only had two.

It took quite a while to get all the guns into the right positions and discuss the order of battle,

while other motley gun crews continued the process of moving their guns from camp to the battlefield.

Eventually, the Union Cavalry showed up and shortly thereafter the "fight" was on.

Lots of noise & gun smoke. The Union seemed to have somewhat more consistency in uniforms, but they were significantly under staffed. Maybe it was because there was a large group of re-enactors from Texas representing the Confederate forces.

Most of the Confederate line follows the order to charge...

with all of this taking place within sight of the campground.

It was nice that the Confederates had so many cannon because all of the gun owners wanted to make noise and were very successful at it! It was amazingly difficult, between the crowds and the shrubbery, to get good pictures of the gun crews in action.

All of this was viewed by large crowds on the hillside

and quite a few people in period dress.

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While I was at the park Friday, I was corresponding with a good friend about an upcoming river trip. When she found out where we were, she said we should check out the band concert.

Turns out, her father (now deceased,) was the founder of the re-creation of the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regimental Band who play each year at the Civil War in the Southwest event.

Once again, some of the women were done up in period dress.

The band played music appropriate to the time period. Amazing how many melodies I recognized. I didn't realize I was that old...

The narrator / announcer started off the program giving a bit of background, including mention of their much loved founder and his wife.

The wool uniforms were admittedly very warm for the 80 degree plus weather we experienced.

The current director did occasional double-duty playing the piccolo.

I was so glad to experience such a small world! A river friend (at least that's where we see them most often) living in the northwest, recommends a band concert that I might well have walked by, had I not known the connection.

Picacho Peak State Park

Picacho Peak State Park is located at mile 219 on Interstate 10, about midway between Phoenix and Tucson. It is only open seasonally between mid-September and mid-May. It's well known for a 4 mile hike to the top of Picacho Peak, and can be busy during the winter months. The park entrance is within 1/4 mile of the freeway.

There are three loops in the camp area with a total of 85 individual camp sites. Each site has power (up to 50 amp) but no water or sewer at the individual sites. There is a dump site near the entrance to the campground loops. All of the sites have a paved driveway. Most have a picnic table and a tent pad. Because of the location there is some train and freeway noise that reaches the campsites.

Picacho Peak is the location of the western-most battle of the Civil War. The park hosts a reenactment every year, usually the 3rd weekend in March. This draws re-enactors from all around the southwest.

Also on the south side of the freeway interchange is the Arizona Nut House. It was closed, perhaps because the state legislature is in session. Maybe after the session some of those nuts could return to the Nut House.

The sign suggested the Nickerson Farms Restaurant might be a place for breakfast, but all that is left is the sign.

There were two other businesses on the south side of the freeway, a former gas station selling very tired looking used cars, and an Adult Boutique in a hot pink building without any customers.

On the north side of the freeway, Dairy Queen offers Unleaded and Mid-Unleaded Breakfasts until 11 a.m. every day.

In spite of the tired neighborhood, the park offers big views, great campsites, free hot showers, strong AT&T & Verizon cell signals, and an excellent pay-for-use WiFi system. Not a bad spot to spend some time if you're in the neighborhood before the temperatures hit triple digits.