Dan Cruson To Lead Winter Walk

At Putnam Park

REDDING — The Annual December Winter Walk at Putnam Park is the one event each year where one can truly learn about the history of the 1778 winter camps of the Continental Army in Redding. Newtown Town Historian Dan Cruson, who is also the park’s archaeologist, will lead this year’s walk when it commences at 11 am on Saturday, December 6.

The program is suitable for all ages, and there is no charge.

Troops first started arriving at the camp on December 1, 1778. It was cold and snowy. They had to build their own log huts. Until the huts were finished, the soldiers lived in their canvas tents. There was no heat and no fireplace.

Each of the enlisted men’s 12-by-16-foot huts held 12 soldiers. Most of the troops were here for five or six months. Conditions were cold and smoky. There was very little food, and almost no pay. Clothes, shoes, and blankets were in short supply.

The Winter Walk is led each year by the foremost historian in central Fairfield County. Dan Cruson taught history and anthropology at Joel Barlow High School in Redding for more than 35 years, and is the author of many history books about this area. He is an archaeologist, and heads the Connecticut Archaeological Society.

He has conducted excavations at Putnam Park for nearly a decade, including active digging at the park for the past several months. He will certainly have new information to reveal this weekend.

The 5th Connecticut Regiment will accompany Mr Cruson and attendees during the Winter Walk, and read journal entries from soldiers who were stationed in Redding during the Revolutionary War.

Although the park buildings are officially closed for the season (they will reopen around Memorial Day), both the park museum and the Visitor Center will be open for this weekend’s event.

Brand new kiosk displays have been curated in the Visitor Center. The museum is the place to see the artifacts found on the annual digs, as well as when they created the park. All these items are from the camp and the soldiers who spent the winter of 1778-79 in Redding.

Putnam Memorial Park is at the intersection of Routes 58 and 107. For additional information call 203-938-2285 or view www.putnampark.org.