Fort Seward Wagon Train heads out on Monday, June 26

Jun. 25—JAMESTOWN — Friends Erika Sladcik and Valerie Johnson of Illinois say they like "outside adventures." Along with Erika's daughter, Mae, they arrived in Jamestown over the weekend to begin their latest one, the Fort Seward Wagon Train.

The wagon train leaves from Fort Seward in Jamestown on Monday, June 26, and returns here on July 1. There are an estimated 115 people on the wagon train this year along with staff.

Erika Sladcik, of New Lenox, Illinois, said she and Johnson, of Oak Forest, Illinois, have been friends since high school and they like doing things outdoors.

"We like history a lot," she said, along with "outside adventure" Johnson adds.

Sladcik says they look for something to do for their yearly trip together.

"Usually, it's a girls' trip because our husbands hate being outside," she said. "So we saw this and we thought it'd be fun to kind of put outside history, 'Little House on the Prairie,' ... all in one."

Johnson added they had also never been to the Dakotas so they also thought it would be fun to see them. The Sladciks and Johnson spent two days n South Dakota before arriving in Jamestown.

"It's been fun," Sladcik said. "The one thing that's been crazy is the wind. We are not used to all the wind you guys get."

The 54th annual Fort Seward Wagon Train is conducted by Fort Seward Inc., a nonprofit organization. Following registration, a meal and orientation on Sunday, the covered wagon train will head out on Monday and cover about 15 miles a day on its approximate 75- to 85-mile trip, according to its website,

https://covered-wagon-train.com/

.

Lacey Kaiser, this year's vice president of Fort Seward, said in an interview last year that the wagon train is about giving participants an idea of what life was like long ago. Along with wagon train duties assigned to each participant, there are also fun activities around the campfire as well.