NOVEMBER 2017 • NEBRASKAland 27
Above: A slow shutter speed shows a ghostly light
trail left by a lantern and visitors as they visit the
barracks during the Candlelight Tour. The tour is
always scheduled on the first Saturday of November.
Opposite: Julie Baker reads by candlelight.
Left: Donna Jones, Jacqueline Ericson and Marilyn
Jones, left to right, spinning and weaving in one of
the barracks. At its height, Fort Atkinson housed
nearly a quarter of the standing U.S. Army –
approximately 1,200 soldiers. Civilians who lived just
beyond the wall of the garrison equaled nearly as
many, which included the soldiers' wives and widows
who did the washing, cooking, gardening, weaving
and spinning.
Most of the day-to-day work at Fort Atkinson was
agricultural. Because the fort was hundreds of
miles away from civilization and outside supplies
were limited and uncertain, the fort had to be self-
sufficient. In addition to soldiers and their families,
an Indian agent, blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers,
tinsmiths, musicians, surgeons and teachers also
lived at the fort.
