Minneapolis
Marathon 2009
May 31, 2009
Ft. Snelling information
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is located in Minneapolis, Minn. The original
Fort Snelling was established in 1805 near the confluence of the Minnesota and
Mississippi rivers. However, it was not until 1820 that a permanent post named
Fort St. Anthony was constructed under the supervision of Col. Josiah Snelling.
Gen. Winfield Scott was so impressed with the conditions at Fort St. Anthony
during his first inspection in 1824 that he recommended the installation be
renamed Fort Snelling.
Its original purpose was to keep peace on the western frontier, but in 1855 as
the frontier moved further west, troops were withdrawn from Fort Snelling. With
the outbreak of the Civil War, the fort was reopened and functioned as both an
assembly ground and training camp for Minnesota volunteers. It remained open at
the end of the Civil War and continued to be used as a training center. In 1947,
the Fort Snelling Military Reservation was deactivated as a post, although it
continues to function today as the headquarters for the 88th Army Reserve
Command.
Lt. Zebulon Pike purchased 100,000 acres (400 km²) of land in the area in
1805, though it was more than a decade before significant settlement took place.
Following the War of 1812 the federal government built a chain of forts
and installed Indian agents between Lake Michigan and the Missouri River .
Their primary purpose was to protect the territory from Canadian and British
encroachment. The soldiers at these outposts denied non-U.S. citizens commercial
use of the rivers, kept American Indian lands free of white settlement until
treaties were signed, enforced law and order, and protected legitimate travelers
and traders. In this case, they also attempted to keep the peace between the
Ojibwe and Dakota people.
The original installation was constructed between 1820 and 1824 as Fort St.
Anthony. During construction, the soldiers lived at Camp Coldwater , which
provided drinking water to the fort throughout the 19th century. It received its
current name upon its completion in 1824 in honor of Colonel Josiah Snelling ,
who commanded the regiment that built it, and oversaw its construction. Snelling
was considered to be a reasonable commander—when he was sober. He was
susceptible to becoming angry when ill from chronic dysentery , and he left the
installation in September 1827 when recalled to Washington. He died a year later
from complications due to dysentery and a "brain fever".
Once the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were well-established,
the need for a forward frontier military post at its location had diminished and
the fort was sold to Franklin Steele in 1858 for $90,000. (Fortunately for
Steele, the deal included 8000 acres (32 km²) of what would become south
Minneapolis.) But during the Civil War , he leased it back to the government for
use as an induction station. After the war was over Steele leased the land to
settlers and the city began to grow. The town of Minneapolis became a city in
1867. After the war, the regular army returned to the fort. They protected
the interests of the white settlers from the Dakota people and others from the
fort, west to the Rocky mountains, dispatching forces projected for the Indian
Wars and the Spanish American War of 1898.
The fort saw service through World War II , when it was chosen as the location
for the Military Intelligence Service Language School , set up to teach the
Japanese language to Army personnel. Scores of buildings were constructed for
housing and teaching the 300,000 soldiers processed there. It was
de-commissioned on October 12, 1946, and parceled out to various federal
agencies. The majority of the structures fell into disrepair. In 1960, it was
listed as a National Historic Landmark
Until its deactivation as a part of force-structure eliminations in 1994, Fort
Snelling was the headquarters of the Army Reserve 205th Infantry Brigade,
a light infantry brigade composed of three light infantry battalions and
attached field artillery, cavalry, air defense artillery, combat engineers and
supporting logistics units from the Upper Mid-West area.
In the decades since, the area of the original walled fort has been converted to
an educational establishment operated by the Minnesota Historical Society ,
rebuilt to resemble its original appearance, and staffed during the spring,
summer and early fall with costumed personnel interpreting life at the early
post.
While restoring and re-creating the original fort has assured its survival as a
historical artifact for the foreseeable future, many of the more
recently-constructed and since-abandoned buildings of the fort have fallen into
serious disrepair and neglect. In May 2006, Fort Snelling's Upper Post was added
to the list of "America's Most Endangered Places" by the National
Trust for Historic Preservation . Some restoration on Historic Fort Snelling,
however, is currently underway--the flagpole has been removed from the iconic
round tower and will be placed in the ground, a change since its opening as a
historic fort.
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is located at Fort Snelling; many notable
Minnesotans as well as other deceased Minnesotan members of the United States
Armed Forces are interred there. The United States Navy honored the fort
by naming an amphibious warfare.
More references-
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/history.html
Weather report from Ft. Snelling, 1820s
http://climate.umn.edu/doc/twin_cities/Ft%20snelling/1820sum.htm
1820 - lst recorded tornado (MN?) and cornerstone laid for ft.
http://climate.umn.edu/doc/twin_cities/fort_snelling.htm
- intro
History
1861-65 training center for volunteers into the Union Army during the
Civil War
Between 1880 and the early 1900s, scores of new barracks, officers' quarters,
and storehouses were built at the post while the decayed buildings of the old
stone fort were demolished. During World War II <http://www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/investigate/fswwii.htm>
Fort Snelling processed over 300,000 inductees and trained soldiers in duties
from operating railroads to speaking Japanese. At war's end the old fort was
finally closed and turned over to the Veteran's Administration.
ww2
http://www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/investigate/fswwii.htm
"When I stood at the commandant's house overlooking the junction of the
Minnesota and Mississippi rivers and gazed about me, I could hardly fail to
realize that I was stationed at a post that was physically older than most of
the other forts and posts in the Middle West. How far back in the nation's
history this Fort Snelling reached! I could turn and see two buildings that
actually dated from the 1820s - the Round Tower, the oldest man-made structure
in Minnesota, and the Hexagonal Tower still guarding the actual junction of the
two rivers.
About Col. Snelling
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/colsnel.html
Art of Ft. Snelling
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/results.cfm?Page=10&Keywords=%22fort%20snelling%22&Type=Art&SearchType=Basic
art available
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/results.cfm?Page=1&Keywords=%22fort%20snelling%22&Type=Art&SearchType=Basic
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