The members of the 3rd Iowa Cavalry Reenactors unit let him pull the lanyard on their replica Civil War era cannon.

Pulling that lanyard sets off the fuse, which then sets off a ball of old school black powder, which then goes kaboom.

“That was … awesome,” Swanson shouted.

He said firing the cannon hadn’t been on his bucket list. He was having a conversation with members of the unit, and they asked Swanson if he would like to.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Silas Gall, 10, of Manson, at left, and Isaiah Beyer-Groth, 11, of Rochester, Minnesota, drill with the 1st Louisianna Special Battalion Saturday during the annual Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Musuem and Frontier Village.

“I just wanted to watch,” he said. “Getting to shoot it, that’s even better.”

Roger “Sandhill Kid” Netz, of Manson, was offering guests a much quieter experience Saturday — one that guests could also interact with. His rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” had several people singing along.

“Everybody seems to be really enjoying it,” Netz said.

He likes the old music from the era of hoop skirts and beards.

“I try to carry on the old traditions; you don’t hear them much anymore,” he said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Ashlyn Brounsceville, of Clive, pulls the lanyard on the 3rd Iowa's Civil War era replica cannon Saturday afternoon during the annual Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village.

He adopted the Sandhill Kid name from a family member.

“That was dad’s name when he worked on my grandpa’s ranch in New Mexico,” he said. “I stole the Sandhill Kid.”

He learned to sing on some of those trips to New Mexico.

“When I was a kid, we’d go out there. Dad would drive all the way through. We sang in the car all the way to New Mexico, all the way down and all the way back. ‘This Land is Your Land’ is how I learned to sing harmony,” he said.

Isaiah Beyer-Groth, 11, of Rochester, Minnesota, and his friend Silas Gall, 10, of Manson, got to learn some military drills and marching skills Saturday with the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Company H and the 1st Louisiana Infantry. Both units are part of the Army of the Southwest reenactors group.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Ashlyn Brounsceville, of Clive, helps load a Civil War era replica cannon Saturday during the Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village.

“It’s hard to remember the commands,” Gall said.

“It’s quite heavy,” Beyer-Groth said of the replica muzzle loading rifle he was working with.

In the era of the Civil War, neither one would have been old enough to serve in combat. That didn’t mean they couldn’t go. They could have served as runners, flag bearers, drummers or even “powder monkeys.”

Both were pretty happy they weren’t going anywhere after the weekend but back home.

Ashlyn Brounsceville, of Clive, was working with the 3rd Iowa Saturday. She was also firing the cannon. Her Union uniform is all wool. It was 86 degrees and humid Saturday.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Paula "Pistol Packin' Paula" Saletnik, of Blanco, Texas, takes aim in a mirror firing over her shoulder to break a balloon with a blank round Saturday during her performance at the Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. The trick shot is based on one performed by Annie Oakley.

“I like lots of shade, stay hydrated and seek out the air conditioning,” she said. “It’s what it was like in the 1860s with no AC.”

That heat and humidity is worse in the South where much of the war’s battles were fought.

“I would not be surprised if a lot of them had heat strokes,” she said.

Paula “Pistol Packin’ Paula” Saletnik, of Blanco, Texas, does some incredible things with a pair of chrome-plated 1873 Colt replicas and a collection of bull whips.

She’s a two-time world champion gun twirler.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Hillbilly Bob, a regular fixture at the annual Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village, drives his ancient car around the grounds entertaining the crowd.

She also brought a message to her show.

“I encourage kids to follow their dreams,” she said. “It took me 10 years to get my first award.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Chris Swanson, of Duncombe, gets instructions from members of the 3rd Iowa Saturday afternoon as he gets ready to pull the lanyard to fire their Civil War era replica cannon during the Frontier Days celebration at the Fort Musuem and Frontier Village.