"Fire in the hole!"

The youngster, his little brother Kyle and mother Sue were at Camp Floyd on Saturday to visit the Civil War Encampment.

For a buck a shot, visitors can fire a black powder rifle.

"It's weird how they were able to reload while being shot at," said Jacob, noting that the real pros can reload and fire three shots a minute.

Plenty of people wandering through the encampment throughout the morning flinched every few minutes as the Mikas and other like them fired the Springfields. What visitors found among the canvas tents surprised them.

For example, don't be fooled by the black-and-white images of the time because the Civil War era was a colorful and artful one, says Michael Sanchez.

Take the bright orange smoking jacket with Oriental accents stashed inside the canvas tent. Or the hand-carved replica pipe he's puffing on Saturday. Or the intricately hand-painted buttons on his outfit.

The art of hand-crafting was at its height in the 1800s, before mass production by machines took over.

"I used to think they were crudely done, but that is not the case," said Sanchez, who is part of the Utah Territorial Civilian Commission, a re-enactment group.

Those kinds of things are what drives fellow re-enactor Kirk Bischoff to events like at Camp Floyd.

"I just want to show other people what it was like back then. It was a pivotal time in our country," Bischoff said.

The Salt Lake City history teacher has been participating in such events for three years and does three impressions: Confederate, Union and civilian.

"It's a fun adventure," he said as he wandered the camp in search of visitors.

The adventure continues through Monday and includes candle making, gun firing and uniform wearing (the coats make you sweat, even in the cool of the day.)

Park Manager Mark Trotter expects about 500 people to walk through the camp and about 35 re-enactors decked out in period dress.

"With anything we do, most all of it is hands on," he said.