Beginning on Friday, Oct. 7, and lasting through Sunday afternoon, the 66th annual Fort Verde Days celebration demonstrated that history is alive and well in Camp Verde.
While the town’s downtown and Main Street are normally fairly quiet, on Fort Verde Days, the area is bustling with activity.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, hundreds of people lined Main Street for the Fort Verde Days Parade. This year’s theme was the Verde River.
The parade began with Camp Verde Mayor Dee Jenkins greeting the crowd on horseback.
Following the mayor were various floats decorated by the Yavapai-Apache Nation, Camp Verde High School, the Camp Verde Arena Association and more.
Across the street, the celebration’s namesake, Fort Verde State Historic Park, hosted dozens of re-enactors who invoked the spirits of former U.S. Army soldiers and cavalry and their company, who lived on the grounds from the 1870s to the 1880s.
Dave Williamson, a re-enactor, got into character as a signal captain.
Williamson described how soldiers used semaphores, or signaling devices such as flags and heliographs [a mirror device], to communicate during and after battle.
“[The soldiers] had a whole network set up, and Porcupine Peak was one of the [locations],” he said.
Beyond Williamson’s collection of semaphores, additional relics, including rifles, medical implements and other tools were on display throughout the fort.
Spencer and Jackson, a musical duo, played “songs of the times” between rounds of cannon fire as visitors strolled about the grounds.
Dressed in colorful regalia, the Colville Confederated Tribes engaged crowds with performances of traditional dances and storytelling.
Next to the fort, the historic Hance House opened its doors to the public for the eighth year.
Volunteers with the Camp Verde Historical Society sold homemade pies and pickles to raise money for the continued preservation of the property, which once belonged to George W. Hance, a former post-master, justice of the peace and “one of the valley’s most illustrious residents.”
According to the historical society, the annual sale of pies at Fort Verde Days enables them to cover the majority of costs to maintain the building.
Visits to Hance House can be arranged by appointment with the historical society.
Across from the fort, various retail and food vendors were set up at the Parks and Recreation Community Center Park.
Also at the park were various activities, including the National FFA Organization dunk tank and the Parks and Recreation kid’s adventure zone, which replaced the event’s usual carnival for a second year.
“Unfortunately, there’s only so many carnivals in the Southwest and they’re all booked,” said Parks and Recreation Supervisor Shawna Figy.
Figy said the carnival offered to come to town on a different day, but the town did not want to break with tradition.
“The young families like it, but it’s pretty hard on the teenagers,” she said.
Figy indicated that this year’s event appeared to be keeping pace with previous years in terms of visitor turnout.
“In 2020, we were the only place doing events, so we had about 10,000 people at this event in 2020,” Figy said. “Last year we had just over 6,000 people, so I think that’s probably where we’ll end up.”
