Note: This is the third of a series of lists of the U. S. forts of the Wild West. It is intended for use in research by writers, readers, movie fans, and others, so not much information is provided in this list itself; instead, it refers readers, by way of embedded links, to websites that provide brief historical accounts of the forts and, in many cases, one or more photographs or illustrations associated with each of the forts. All photographs and illustrations are in the public domain.
North Dakota (admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889)
In service from 1858 to 1878 in Dakota Territory (later the state of North Dakota), near the confluence of the Red River and the Minnesota River, Fort Abercrombie protected "oxcart trails, facilitating the smooth transit of goods and settlers, safeguarding pivotal mail routes, and maintaining crucial communication lines."
During the U. S.-Dakota War (1862), the fort withstood multiple times by the Sioux, while providing protection for soldiers and settlers who sought refuge within the fort. Later, it protected westbound wagon trains "Ten Historic Forts in North Dakota," Historic Forts.)
Fort Totten (1867-1890)
Fort Totten provided three functions. It protected settlers. It was the site of the Devil's Lake Indian Agency (the reservations' original name). It later served as a Native American boarding school ("Fort Totten, North Dakota," Wikipedia).
Fort Buford (1866-1895)
It was at Fort Buford that Chief Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota surrendered, having long resisted U. S. government policies and defeated General George Armstrong Cutler at the Battle of Little Big Horn (June 25-26, 1876).
On April 1, 1867, the fort was also the subject of a hoax, according to which its soldiers had been massacred; its commander, Captain William G. Rankin, tortured and killed; and his wife “captured and abused.” Despite later doubts about the story, which arose by December 20, 1867, the Chicago Daily Times, the Detroit Free Press, the New York Daily Tribune, The New York Times, and the Boston Herald, and other newspapers persisted in reporting additional accounts of the alleged event for another month ("Fort Buford," Wikipedia).
A Fort Buford Historic Marker reads:
Fort Buford, a United States military post named in honor of General John Buford of Gettysburg fame, was established in this location in the fall of 1866. Preceding it on this site were two trading posts, Fort William elected in 1833 and Fort Mortimer built in 1843. Being of strategic importance at the focal point of steamboat traffic to the West, Fort Buford played an important and colorful part in opening the frontier for permanent settlement.
Famous Indian prisoners at the fort included Chief Joseph, Crow King, Rain-in-the-Face, Gall, and Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull with about 200 stragglers, the last of the hostile Sioux, surrendered here in 1881.
In 1895 the fort was dismantled and the garrison was transferred to Fort Assiniboine, Montana.
The original adobe buildings providing quarters for 300 men were later replaced by about 100 frame buildings: though most of the buildings were sold and removed upon dismantling the fort, a stone magazine and the headquarters building are preserved on their original sites. The old military cemetery is also preserved.
Fort Stevenson (1867-1883)
Like many others, Fort Stevenson was designed to protect settlers, western immigrants, and trade routes but primarily served military needs. It also served political ambitions, providing a common meeting ground for negotiations between tribes and federal agents (“Historic Forts in North Dakota,” Historic Forts).
Fort Abraham Lincoln (`1772-1891)
Originally named Fort McKeen, Fort Abraham Lincoln was built in 1872 to protect “settlers, trade routes, and the surrounding territory.” General George Armstrong Custer set out from Fort Abraham Lincoln in 1876 to meet defeat by the Lakota Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, an episode of the Great Sioux War (1876-1977) (“Historic Forts in North Dakota,” Historic Forts).
Fort Rice (1864-1878)
Fort Rice, founded near the Missouri River following the Dakota War (aka Sioux Uprising), served the same purposes as Fort Stevenson and many other forts throughout the U. S.’s western territories (“Historic Forts in North Dakota,” Historic Forts)
Fort Berthold (1845)
Founded in 1845 during the flourishing period of the fur trade, on the upper Missouri River, in what is now the central-northwest region of North Dakota, Fort Berthold originally consisted of two trading posts, one of which was later transformed into a military post and later became the U. S. Indian Agency serving as the site of the reservation for the Arikara, Hidasta, and Mandan Affiliated tribes. The remnants of Fort Berthold was submerged by Lake Sakakawea, which resulted from the building of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in the mid-twentieth century. (“Historic Forts in North Dakota,” Historic Forts).
Fort Mandan (1804-1805)
Although Fort Mandan was burned down by the time that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned along their path west to the Pacific Ocean from Camp Wood (just west of St, Louis, Missouri) in August 1806. The explorers had wintered at the fort, built in 1804 by the Corps of Discovery, an army unit expressly created to support their expedition, on their journey west "Fort Mandan," Wikipedia).
As a result of their expedition, they and the Corps not only reached the Pacific Ocean, but mapped their route, initiated relations and trade with Native Americans of the region, and collected information about the land, even collecting specimens of flora and minerals.
They also learned and recorded Native American tribes' language and customs and obtained such of their artifacts as bows, clothing, and ceremonial robes, helping to "to establish an American presence in the new lands before European powers attempted to establish claims of their own" and laying part of the foundation for the opening a sizeable part of the west that would later follow ("Lewis and Clark Expedition," Wikipedia).
Fort Seward (1872)
As "Historic Forts in North Dakota" (Historic Forts) explains,
Fort Seward was situated on a hill overlooking the James River and Pipestem Creek confluence in Jamestown, North Dakota, in the post-Civil War era.
As the westward expansion accelerated, the U.S. military deemed it essential to have forts to safeguard settlers from potential conflicts with Native American tribes and offer a stable environment for communities to grow. In this context, Fort Seward was founded in 1872.
Fort Pembina (1870-1895)
Fort Pembina, in the Dakota Territory, was located at "near the [confluence of the] Red [River] and [the] Pembina [River] . . . at the United States and Canada border," its "primary mission . . . to curb the illegal trade and smuggling activities [that were] rife along the border. But other missions of the fort were to manage "relations with the local Métis population [and to protect] against potential tensions with Canada during evolving boundary definitions" "Historic Forts in North Dakota" (Historic Forts).
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