List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part V: Kansas Territory and Kansas

 

Note: This is the fifth 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.

 Kansas (admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861)

Fort Leavenworth (1827-present)

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1858.

Fort Leavenworth, "the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D. C.," was built in 1827 in Missouri Territory. (The Kansas Territory was established in 1854, and Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861.) Its original mission was to protect the Santa Fe Trail.

Located at the mouth of the Little Platte River, a Missouri River tributary, it was also the staging point in for a battle against its troops and the Cherokees, and its troops "were mobilized to control the 'Mormon Problem' [during] . . . the Utah War (1857-1858).

At the beginning of the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth was a receiving center and training base for Kansas volunteers. Following the war, the fort's mission was to "control" Native Americans "on the Western plains , . . . [and] between 1865 and 1891, the Army had more than 1,000 combat engagements with Apache, Modoc, Cheyenne, Ute, Nez Perce Comanche, Kiowa, Kickapoo and other tribes."

In 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment of "Buffalo soldiers," one of four all-black units who then served as on the Western frontier.

In 1877, four-hundred Nez Perce were sent to Fort Leavenworth after being their capture during the Nez Perce War; two years later, they were transferred to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, presumably to the Nez Perce reservation there.

Today, Fort Leavenworth functions as a maximum-security military prison. ("Fort Leavenworth," Wikipedia).

Fort Scott (184201873)

Politics, morality, protection of U. S. sovereignty, and "control" of Native Americans were some of the issues and functions associated with Fort Scott, which was established in 1842 and decommissioned in 1853.

As "10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts, points out, "this fort was initially envisioned as part of a defense line meant to protect the US [sic] from potential foreign invasions and [to] keep the peace among various Native American tribes after their forced relocation from traditional territories."

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) left it up to territories to determine, by vote, whether to permit slavery, a contentious issue which led to "clashes  violent clashes between pro-slavery “Border Ruffians” and anti-slavery “Free-Staters" in "Bleeding Kansas." Even after it was decommissioned in 1853, the fort was a safe haven for those seeking to escape the violence introduced by "the slavery question," and the fort also served as a "supply depot" for Union troops.

Today, the reconstructed fort is a major attraction in the town that bears its name, located in Bourbon County, Kansas.

Fort Riley (Originally Camp Center) (1853-present)

Serving since 1853, when it was established to near the confluence of the Smoky Hill River and the Republican River in Kansas Territory to protect travelers on the Oregon Trail and the Sante Fe Trail, "during escalating tensions between settlers and Native American tribes," Fort Riley (originally Camp Center) continues to serve the U. S. Army today.

During the Civil War (1861-1865), the fort supported Union troops against Confederate soldiers, "housing troops, acting as a training ground, and facilitating the movement of supplies." During World War I and World War II, Fort Riley was used to train soldiers "for . . . European frontlines" and, during the latter, "as as a prisoner of war camp, housing captured Axis soldiers. Today, the fort continues to train soldiers for combat. ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Larned (Originally Camp on Pawnee Fork; then Camp Alert (1859-1883)

Names of frontier forts were changed fairly frequently for a variety of reasons. Fort Larned was originally Camp on Pawnee Fork, its mission to protect the Santa Fe Trail. The original designation was of geographic origin: the camp was located on the bank of Pawnee  Fork (the Pawnee River, a tributary of the Arkansas River) ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts). The completion of the Santa Fe Railroad led to the fort's abandonment in 1878. After serving as a ranch's headquarters from 1885-1966, the fort "was incorporated as a unit of the National Park System" as a National Historic Landmark ("Fort Larned," Wikipedia).

Fort Hays (aka Fort Fletcher) (1865-1889)

Fort Hays (originally Fort Fletcher) entered service in 1865, occupying the first of its three sites, its mission to protect freight wagons traveling over the Smoky Hill Trail against Cheyenne and Arapaho attacks ("Fort Hays," Wikipedia) and to "to relocate Native American tribes to reservations" ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

The fort closed on May 5, 1886, but reopened in October of the same year, this time " at the confluence of Big Creek and its north fork, 1⁄4 mile north of the previous site," its new purpose the protection of Union Pacific Eastern Division workers, its name changed to Fort Hays in memory of Brigadier General Alexander Hays, a Union casualty of the Civil War's Battle of the Wilderness.

On June 7, 1867, "a severe flood nearly [destroying] the fort, killing nine soldiers and civilians." The fort was relocated "15 miles (24.1 km) to the northwest where the railway would cross Big Creek," its final site, so that it could be closer to the railroad. It also played an important role during the Indian Wars (1609-1890). In 1992, after the fort was closed for good in 1889, most of its buildings were sold at auction as scrap.

George Armstrong Custer

Fort Hays is used as a setting in the films The Plainsman (1936), Dances with Wolves (1990), and Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (1997), and the television series Custer (1967); it is also associated with such notable individuals as Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917), Brevet Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1925), U. S. General of the Army Philip Sheridan (1831-1888), and others ("Fort Hays," Wikipedia) 

Fort Dodge (1865-1882)

As the U. S., National Park service points out, Fort Dodge, built in 1865, to protect the Santa Fe Trail, "is the oldest permanent settlement in [southwestern] of Kansas." Initially, it was built of "sod and adobe," its wooden buildings constructed only after "lumber arrived." At one point, four infantry companies composed its garrison.

In 1882, the fort was abandoned and "deeded to the state for use as a soldiers home," a function it continues to serve today ("Fort Dodge: Santa Fe National Historic Site," U. S. National Park Service).

Two forts preceded Fort Dodge. The first, Fort Mann, was constructed by civilians in 1847 to protect the Santa Fe Trail, but it failed to survive a Native Americans' attack, collapsing a year later, and was replaced by Fort Atkinson, which the U. S. Army built on the former fort's site, but Fort Atkinson was abandoned in 1853.

Dodge City, Kansas, 1875

Dodge City Peace Commission:  From left to right, standing: William H. Harris, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, William F. Petillon; seated: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Michael Francis "Frank" McLean, Cornelius "Neil" Brown.

Dodge City was built in 1871, in anticipation of the Santa Fe Railroad's passage through western Kansas. Dodge City "boomed" in 1883, when the Western Trail branched off the Chisholm Trail, opening a link to the town.

As "Dodge City," Wikipedia, observes, "Dodge City had more gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883." Famous lawmen formed the Dodge City Peace Commission, founded on June 210, 1883, members of which included Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, and Wyatt Earp.

Fort Wallace (1865-1882)

Officers at Fort Wallace, 1867

The Fort Wallace Museum website provides a fine, succinct account of its subject. Camp Pond Creek  was established in 1865 in response to numerous Native American raids against the Pond Creek Stage Station, which was one of the many stations along the Butterfield Overland Despatch:

[Travelers] could cross this great expanse of land for just $100. Stations were approximately 15 miles apart and were given different jobs.  One station would be a “home” station that would feed the travelers while “cattle” stations provided hay and "swing" provided fresh mules and horses.

In 1886, the camp was moved east, closer to the Smokey Hill River, and renamed Fort Wallace. During its heyday, the fort became known as "The Fightin'est Fort in the West" due to its many battles with the region's Cheyenne. Famous men associated with the fort include General George Armstrong Custer, George Forsythe, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok.

Fort Zarah (1864-1869)

As "10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts. indicates, "the trail was fraught with perils, from unpredictable weather to potential confrontations with Native American tribes."

There wasn't anything that the federal government could do about the weather, but, to protect travelers, the U. S. Army built and garrisoned several forts along the trail: Fort Leavenworth, Fort Mann, Fort Atkinson, and Fort Zarah among them.

Forts on the Western frontier were often built where rivers came together or a tributary branched off, as was Fort Zarah, constructed in 1864 to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. (Historical sites along the Santa Fe Trail, including U. S. Army forts, are shown on this large interactive map.

Map of the Santa Fe Trail

Like a good number of other frontier post, Fort Zarah was abandoned fairly soon after its establishment, in 1869, its demise, so to speak, due to the building of the railroad, which "reduced" the need for it and other "such forts" ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Aubrey (1864-1865)

Fort Aubrey, established in 1864, near the Arkansas River in Kansas, served the same function as several others, protecting the Santa Fe Trail used by pioneers, traders, and settlers. While it was of a modest size, the fort contained all the essentials, including "barracks, supply storerooms, and stables." The post was abandoned in 1865,  as the trail west became safe and railroads were built, offering much less expensive and safer travel ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Downer

Werner lithograph of Cavalry Troops chasing Indians was printed in 1899.

Fort Downer was established in the late 1800s   in response to escalating tensions between settlers and travels and Native Americans and the ongoing Indian Wars  (1609-1890), "its primary role . . . [service] as a base for troops embarking on campaigns against Native American tribes resisting the encroachment on their lands" and the provision of support in the forms of "including supplies, medical facilities, and strategic planning headquarters."

By the end of the century, the cessation of the Indian Wars led to the abandonment of the fort ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Posts, Part IV: South Dakota

  

Note: This is the fourth 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.

South Dakota (admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889)

Post at Grand River Indian Agency

Located in that part of Dakota Territory that is now South Dakota, the Post at Grand River Indian Agency occupied a site near the Missouri River and the Grand River and was in use as a federal government administration center for Native American affairs from 1870 to 1875 ("Post at Grand River Indian Agency," Wikipedia), dealing with such matters as related, especially, to the Lakota Sioux, the post [facilitating] negotiations, [managing] treaties, [overseeing] the implementation of government policies concerning the Native tribes, [and] . . . distributing annuities, supplies, and rations to the tribes as stipulated in various treaties" ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

Camp Crook (1875-1950s)

After the Rapid City Mining Company was established in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, Camp Crook (now Pactola, South Dakota) was set up by squatters who intended to mine the region's gold. The named the camp for General Crook, from whom the were in hiding and who later removed them, since they were illegally encamped in violation of the Treaty of Laramie. When the land was opened in February 1876, the miners returned, and Camp Crook boomed. Not only were many claims recorded and a flume constructed, but a store, a post office, and the Sherman House hotel (later a stagecoach station), and a number of log cabins were built. Sherman built the hotel named for himself a year after he became trapped in Camp Crook during March 1876. The town endured until the early 1950s, when flooding caused it to be submerged under Pactola Lake ("Pactola, South Dakota," Wikipedia).

Fort Outlook

Located along the Missouri River in Dakota Territory, Fort Outlook was not only well fortified, but it also provided "unparalleled views of the surrounding landscape [that allowed] . . . early detection of approaching forces or potential threats." It was also a refuge for civilians and the site of military "operations, strategizing, and troop rest" during occasional tensions between the U. S. government and the Dakota Sioux. ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts)

Fort Meade (1878-1944)

Like Camp Crook, Fort Meade (originally Fort Sturgis), which occupied a site near Sturgis, founded in 1878 and incorporated in 1888), in that part of Dakota Territory that is now South Dakota, to protect settlers in the Black Hills, many of whom had been lured by the discovery of gold in the region. Taking advantage of the safety provided by the fort, "several stage and freighting routes passed through Fort Meade en route to Deadwood" ("Fort Meade, [South Dakota]," Wikipedia), and the fort's soldiers were also involved in "various regional conflicts and interactions with Native American tribes," ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts), including the Indian Wars (1609-1890), the Ghost Dance War (1890-1891), the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890), and the Ute uprising (1906-1908) ("Fort Meade, [South Dakota]," Wikipedia).

As the Historic Forts website article notes, "The fort was home to the 7th Cavalry band, which, in 1892, became one of the first to play the national anthem at the official flag-raising ceremony, . . .  a precedent, [that] . . . eventually [led to] the tradition of playing the [']Star Spangled Banner['] at military and public events spread throughout the nation." A historical marker commemorates the event:

On this parade ground in 1892 "The Star Spangled Banner" got its impetus to become the National Anthem. Colonel Caleb Carlton of the Eighth Cavalry was post commander and with his wife discussed the need for a National Air. At her suggestion he concluded that it should be "The Star Spangled Banner" whereupon he required that it should be played at retreat and at the close of parades and concerts.

General wrote in 1914: "When Governor Sheldon of South Dakota visited Fort Meade, our custom was explained to him. Later I attended a reception given by Governor Hastings of Pennsylvania at the Governor's mansion in Harrisburg, and he promised me that he would try to have the custom established among the state militia.

"Not long after I had an interview on the subject with the Secretary of War, Daniel E. Lamont, and my impression is that it was but a few months later that he issued an order requiring that "The Star Spangled Banner to be played at every army post every evening at retreat.

In  addition to this I tried to enforce respect for our national flag by having everyone rise and remove their hats when the colors passed them."

 The Adjutant General designated it as the "National Air", and in 1931 Congress declared it "The National Anthem" ("It Started Here)."

Fort Sisseton

Like many of the other 19th-century American forts of the Western frontier, Dakota Territory's Fort Sisseton, "maintained peace and facilitated westward movement" ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

The name of the fort was originally Fort Wadsworth, but it was changed to avoid its confusion with "a Fort Wadsworth [that] already existed in New York, and to honor the Sisseton band of Sioux that provided scouts to the fort."

Fort Sisseton also had the distinction of becoming home to "Companies E and G of the 25th Infantry Regiment, an African-American unit, . . . both of which were reassigned . . . [here] . . . in May 1884 after Fort Hale was abandoned" ("Fort Sisseton," Wikipedia).

Fort Pierce Chocteau

Fort Pierre Chocteau

Fort Pierre Chocteau

Located in Dakota Territory, Fort Pierre Chouteau, also simply Fort Pierre, was a major trading post and military outpost on the Missouri River's west bank. It was established in 1832 by Pierre Chouteau, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri, a member of a family of fur traders, and operated throughout the 1850s as the largest trading post in the northern Great Plains. It was also a major shipment point for buffalo furs ("Fort Pierre Chocteau," Wikipedia).

Fort Pierre Chouteau also served as a meeting place for tribal leaders, traders, and government representatives, where "alliances [and] treaties" were forged among "various cultural influences" ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

Fort Dakota

Built in 1865, along the Big Sioux River in Dakota Territory, Fort Dakota protected westward migration and the settlers in the region surrounding the fort itself. The fort's presence prompted many to make the area their home, leading to both an increase in the population and the economic development of the city of Sioux Falls. The fort was decommissioned in 1869, but historical markers and its "preserved remnants" are reminders of its history and military, cultural, and political contributions. ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

Fort Bennet

Pan of Fort Bennett

During the Indian Wars, Fort Bennett (originally the Post at Cheyenne River Agency) "was established [in 1869, on the Missouri River, seven miles north of Fort Sully], in the Department of Dakota, by the U. S. Army"; its mission: to control the Sioux." The fort was abandoned in 1889, when the agency was relocated fifty-six miles upriver. ("Fort Bennett," Wikipedia.)

Fort Randall

Established in 1856, along the west bank of the Big Sioux River, in Dakota Territory, Fort Randall had much the same purpose as many other frontier army posts: protect settlers and trails west and "provide a base for exploration and expeditions further into the West" while promoting good will and "negotiations" between the U. S. government and a number of Native Americans, particularly those of the Sioux, or, in the case of the Indian Wars, representing a "staging point for military expeditions and campaigns" ("10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

Gordon Stockade

The Black Hills Gold Rush (1874-c. 1877) led to the construction of several forts, built either by the U. S. Army, or, in some cases, private citizens. Both Camp Crook and Gordon Stockade are examples of the latter. Gordon Stockade was built by William Gordon and other prospectors, who used "local timber" according to a simple, utilitarian design: a "hastily constructed . . . defense fortification" with "tall wooden walls and lookout posts."

In 1875, the stockade was abandoned, the U. S. Army ordering its defenders to evacuate; the post was illegal, having been built "in territory considered sacred to the Lakota Sioux and established without U.S. government sanction."

Although it is now long gone, a reconstruction of Gordon Stockade can be seen in Custer State Park at 13329 US Highway 16A, Custer, South Dakota 57730-8351. "10 Historic Forts in South Dakota," Historic Forts).

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Posts, Part III: North Dakota

 

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)

Fort Abercombie (1858-1878)

Sioux – Chippewa Peace Conference: Fort Abercrombie, August 12-15, 1870, Dakota Territory

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).

Chief Sitting Bull, c. 1883

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)

General George Armstrong Custer and his wife Libbie at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, 1874

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).

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

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.

Lewis and Clark meet the Salish at Ross Hole, September 4, 1805 (1912 Painting by Charles M. Russell).

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 (Painted by Peter Rindisbacher in 1822)

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).

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part II: Missouri and Arkansas

 Missouri (admitted August 10, 1821; previously Missouri Territory)

Note: This is the second 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. The photographs and illustrations is in the public domain in the United States.

Fort Osage

Also known as Fort Osage, Fort Clark and Fort Sibley, operated from 1808 to 1813 and again from 1815 to 1822. Daniel Boone visited the fort in 1815. Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's storied history.

Fort Belle Fontaine

Built in 1805 as a Spanish military post, Fort Belle Fontaine was, in 1885, converted into a fur trading post after the Louisiana Purchase (1803), operating as such for three years. Reopened a year later, it served as a U. S. military post until 1850. It was one of four forts (A, B, C, and D) near Cape Girardeau. 

Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's storied history.

Fort D 

A Union Civil War post, Fort D was built in 1861. 

Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's storied history.

Jefferson Barracks

Built in 1826, beside the Mississippi River, Jefferson Barracks was in us for two decades, its troops involved, directly or indirectly, in the Black Hawk War (1832), the Mexican-American War (1846-1849), the Civil War (1861-1865), the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1914-1981), and World War II (1941-1945), after the last of which, it was decommissioned.

Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's storied history.

Tribes' return from Paris to Fort Orleans.

Fort Orleans

This French fort was in service from 1723 to 1726. Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's history.

Fort Charette

Established in 1790 by French fur trader Joseph Chadron in on the bank of the Missouri River, near present-day Washington, Missouri, it later served the needs of Western pioneers, including Daniel Boone, until its destruction by the flood in 1842-1843.

A Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's storied history. 

Fort Zumwalt

Not a military post, but a "homestead fort" (as a Wikipedia article points out, "families gathered there for protection from raids during the War of 1812"), Fort Zumwalt was built in 1798 by Jacon Zumwalt, who sold it for $1,000 in 1817. The "fort" was reconstructed in 2017. The Historic Forts website also includes an account of the fort's history.

Fort Carondelet

Built as a fur trading post in 1795, Fort Carondelet was abandoned in 1802 by new owners who'd purchased the property the same year.

Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's history. 

Fort Davidson

Built near Pilot Knob, Missouri, by the Union Army, during the Civil War, Fort Davidson, pushed back Confederate troops during Price's Raid on September 17, 1864, before blowing up the fort's magazine and abandoning the fort. 

Both a Wikipedia article and a Historic Forts website article provide accounts of the fort's history.  

Fort Cap-Au-Gris

Wikipedia summarizes the history of Fort Cap-Au-Gris:

Fort Cap au Gris, also called Capo Gray, was a temporary fort built in September 1814 near Troy, Missouri, during the War of 1812 by Missouri Rangers under the direction of Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone. . . . After the defeat of Fort Johnson, U.S. Army soldiers under the command of Zachary Taylor retreated to Cap au Gris in October 1814.

The Battle of the Sink Hole was fought near Cap au Gris in May 1815.

The unincorporated community of Cap du Gris, Missouri, today occupies the site of the old fort.

 

Arkansas (admitted June 16, 1836; previously Arkansas Territory)

Fort Smith

Fort Smith, Arkansas, has a lengthier and more dramatic history than many other American frontier outposts. After the Louisiana Purchase, the U. S. Army built the fort in 1817 and occupied it until 1922, using it for "Indian removal" in the 1830s and as a base during the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War, the Confederate States Army occupied the fort for a year, until Union forces regained possession, after which it became a refuge for freed slaves, children, and others fleeing guerilla warfare (Wikipedia). The town of Fort Smith is visited by Mattie Ross in the movie True Grit (1969) starring John Wayne.

Fort Hindman

Fort Hindman

As the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas points out, "Fort Hindman served as an important Confederate defensive fortification during the Civil War [until it was] captured by a combined force of Federal troops and the Union navy [and] destroyed in 1863."

In addition to the Encyclopedia's article, both the Historic Forts website and Wikipedia also recount the history of this fort and the battle related to it.

Fort Curtis

Battle of Helena Map

Fort Curtis

Under the command of Union General Samuel R. Curtis, soldiers and freed slaves built a number of fortifications against Confederate advances and attacks, one of which was the fort named for the general.

The square-shaped earthen fort occupied a strategic position, which allowed its defenders to protect the Mississippi River, frustrating Confederate use of the waterway to deploy troops and supplies by this means, as did the post's guns, which ranged from 32-pounders to 64-pounders.

Put to the test by a Confederate assault, the fort proved its mettle, and the Rebel sustained many casualties before fleeing the field of battle.

Historic Forts and Wikipedia provide accounts of the fort's history, the latter in more detail than the former.

Building 1, Fort Logan H. Woods

Fort Logan H. Roots

Although it was established late in the 19th century (in 1892) in Little Rock, this Arkansas fort was the garrison of troops from 1896 to 1913, when it was used as a civilian hospital until 1921, when an act of Congress caused its conversion to a veterans hospital for neuropsychiatric disorders (Wikipedia).

The Historic Forts website and Wikipedia provide accounts of the fort's history.

Fort Lookout (Redoubt A) (aka Fort Southerland)

According to a historical marker sponsored by the Camden A&P Commission, Confederate troops and slaves built Fort Lookout (Redoubt A) between 1863 and 1864. The earthen fortification "contained a battery of six artillery pieces, fronted by deep entrenchments, [and] an L-shaped fortification to the west [provided] three additional guns" by which roads west of Tate's Bluff and the bluff itself could be controlled. Taking over the fort after the Confederates abandoned it, the Union army "expanded its defenses, adding trenches and earthworks" (Historic Forts).

Under the title "Fort Southerland," Wikipedia also provides information about this historic fort.

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part I: Minnesota and Iowa

Note: This is the first 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.

Western forts could be highly effective when used as part of a comprehensive, strategic approach that prioritized engineering, leadership, and resource management. Their success depended less on the natural environment itself and more on human ingenuity and systemic planning. Failures often stemmed from neglecting these aspects rather than inevitable environmental or economic hardships alone.

Minnesota (admitted May 11, 1858; previously Minnesota Territory)

 

Fort Ridgely (Minnesota)

Fort Ridgely (1853-1857)

Built 1853–1854, in Minnesota Territory, Fort Ridgely was a frontier United States Army outpost until 1867. Two companies of troops assisted in quarrying the granite, transporting it two miles, and using the stone to erect a 400-man stone barracks. Surprisingly, the fort lacked walls.

After Congress approved $10,000 to clear timber and $50,000 to build a road, a wagon road was built from St. Anthony Falls to Fort Ridgely.

On August 18, 1862, Captain Marsh took most of the garrison to the Lower Sioux Agency after reports of an attack. Marsh requested assistance from C Company to oversee annuity and provisions exchange at the Upper Sioux Agency. Marsh sent a runner to support C Company, who marched through Glencoe, Minnesota, and returned to Ridgely by noon ("Fort Ridgely," Wikipedia).

The Sioux attacked Ridgely's combined military/civilian force twice, with 800 Mdewakanton and Wahpekute led by Little Crow. Fort artillery repulsed the overwhelming force, and Ordinance Sergeant John Jones organized men with artillery experience to man three cannons.

Abbie Gardner

The sole civilian survivor of the massacre, 14-year-old Abbie Gardner, was the prisoner of the outlaw Wahpekute band of the Santee Sioux for four months. Ransomed, she was taken to the Upper Sioux Agency and Fort Ridgely, from whence she was sent to St. Paul by riverboat ("Spirit Lake Massacre," Wikipedia).

Fort Snelling (Fort St. Anthony) (1819-1946; 1963-1994)

Fort Snelling

Acting on the recommendation of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, the U. S. began building Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River in 1819 ("Historic Forts in Minnesota," Historic Posts).

Dred Scott, c. 1888

The Army permitted soldiers stationed at the post to bring their slaves with them, an action that prompted Dred Scott and his wife Harriet to sue for their freedom, having lived in "free territory" during the years they'd lived at the fort. The case's decision was essentially that neither slaves nor anyone of African ancestry could become U.S. citizens ("Fort Snelling, Wikipedia).

Among other missions, the soldiers of Fort Snelling enforced the 1812  Treaty of Ghent's prohibition of the operation of British-Canadian traders in the U. S.; "served as a concentration camp for more than 1,600 Dakota people during the winter of 1862-63, [amid] suffering, disease, and death" ("Historic Forts in Minnesota," Historic Forts); and became an induction center for Union troops during the Civil War ("Fort Snelling," Wikipedia).

Iowa (admitted December 28, 1846; previously Iowa Territory)

Fort Dodge (Iowa)

Fort Dodge (originally Fort Clarke) (1850-1853)

Initially known as Fort Clarke, Fort Dodge received its new name to avoid its confusion with another fort in Texas, with which the Iowa fort shared its name ("Fort Dodge," Wikipedia). Built in 1850, Fort Dodge was abandoned 1853. Its soldiers' mission had been to defend settlers against the Sioux ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Old Fort Madison (Iowa) (1801-1831)

Old Fort Madison, the first such U. S. post in  Iowa's  Upper Mississippi region, was "established to control the new Louisiana Purchase territories,... to "control trade, [and to] pacify the Native Americans." Canon fire repelled the Sauk when they attacked the fort, but they and other tribes "harassed troops" once they left the fort. In September 1812, "a coordinated attack" by the Sauk and other tribes was conducted, during which several of the fort's building were damaged, and another siege followed. Abandoning the fort "weeks later," the troops burned its buildings during their withdrawal to prevent the warriors from seizing them. Upon seeing the abandoned, burned-down fort, Chief Blackhawk voiced his satisfaction at the fact "that the white people had retired from the country" ("Fort Madison," Historic Forts).

Old Fort Madison (Sketch by A. Reynolds, 1842).

Fort Atkinson

According to "Historic Forts of Iowa," Fort Atkinson was "founded in the early 1840s, [primarily] to oversee and protect the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) [Native Americans] after their forced removal from Wisconsin."

A Wikipedia article adds that "The regular army turned the fort over to Iowa volunteers as the troops stationed there were needed for the Mexican-American War."

Fort Des Moines (Iowa)

Fort Des Moines No. 1 (1834-1830s)

In 1834, where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers joined, Fort Des Moines No. 1 was erected. While its primary mission was to maintain peace between white settlers and nearby Native American tribes, Fort Des Moines No. 1 also played a pivotal role in scouting and exploration activities in the region.

Despite its initial strategic importance, the tenure of Fort Des Moines No. 1 was surprisingly brief, "floods, disease, and a reassessment of military needs" leading to its abandonment in the late 1830s ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Fort Des Moines No2. (1834-1840s)

Fort Des Moines No. 2, established in 1834, marked a significant expansion of the U.S. military’s presence in the uncharted territories of Iowa. Overlooking the Mississippi River, it was a critical point of control and defense for the burgeoning Western frontier ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Fort Defiance (1850s-?)

Fort Defiance was primarily established to protect settlers, becoming a safe haven for them in times of danger ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Fort Severson

Established in the mid-19th century, Fort Severson protected early settlers who traveled into uncharted territories and, as a trading post, brought pioneers and Native American tribal members together. The fort was decommissioned as settlements developed into towns and cities. ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Fort Sanford (1840s-?)

Established in the 1840s, on the Des Moines River, Fort Sanford, was located near a previous trading post from donated cabin, with new quarters being built for officers and as stables for the officers' horses. ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).

Fort Dodge 2 (Fort Clarke)

Fort Dodge 2 (Fort Clarke)

Located near important trade routes and waterways, Fort Clarke facilitated interactions between the U.S. government and Native American tribes. Fort Clarke was renamed Fort Dodge on June 25, 1851 ("Historic Forts in Iowa," Historic Forts).