Kids participating in a Civil War on the Western Frontier program took a journey into the past as they headed for the banks of the Kansas River to construct mud forts. Mary Reiber, 8, added more dirt to walls of the fort on Tuesday.

Adding dirt to a wall of sticks, Maggie Ziegler 9, was one of many kids who built mud forts on the bank of the Kansas River on Tuesday as part of The

Kids participating in a Civil War on the Western Frontier program took a journey into the past as they headed for the banks of the Kansas River to construct mud forts. Mary Reiber, 8, added more dirt to walls of the fort on Tuesday.

Local historians have a lot of dirt to dish out when it comes to the Civil War Era. On Tuesday, local children and parents slung mud all over the banks of the Kansas River to take a trip back in time.

As part of a series of events called “The Civil War on the Western Frontier,” the children created mud forts — Lawrencians’ main line of defense starting in December 1855.

“The Missouri people were very angry that some people wanted to have Kansas be a free state,” said Kade Traffas, a Deerfield School fourth-grader who’s built forts for three years. “They had to make mud forts to protect people from getting hurt by the Missouri people.”

A mud fort looks just as it sounds — it’s a giant hole with mud piled up to form walls, using sticks as reinforcements. On Tuesday, the group did forget to incorporate one thing in their fort: a way to get out.

“We haven’t made stairs yet, but I think we might make them,” said Isaac Springe, a Schwegler School fourth-grader. “For right now, we just have to jump in and out.”

Local historian Katie Armitage oversees the re-creation of the Civil War enforcements.

“At Sixth and Massachusetts, (the mud fort) was 100 feet in diameter,” Armitage said.

That large mud fort was reserved for women and children. Other forts at Eighth and New Hampshire and Seventh and Kentucky were on the edge of town at that time.

“Lawrence was hardly a year old,” said Armitage, of when the mud forts were built. “It was just a tiny community.”

While it might have worked in the 1850s, the kids aren’t so sure mud forts are necessary anymore.

“What would they be for? It’s not like Missouri people are coming down this river and about to attack us,” Traffas said.

Events commemorating Douglas County’s role in the Civil War continue through Aug. 22. For a list of events, look online.