Fort Snelling

“ Interest in Old Fort Snelling is not primarily in the logs and stones which made up its building, but in the men and women who lived within its walls. Many were the lives influenced by a residence in its barracks. Characters were formed by the stern rigors of frontier service. Far from busy cities, in the tiresome routine of army life, men were being trained who were to be leaders in the political and [055] military life of the Nation. Others never rose to a higher position ”

“ The post which could have successfully resisted the attack of Indian warriors, or even the siege of a civilized enemy was to fall before the invasion of the pioneers. The frontier had suddenly leaped far to the westward. In 1858, when the troops were withdrawn, there was no need of an establishment such as had existed during the first forty years. It was the passing of Old Fort Snelling which for so many years had been the remotest outpost of American law. ”

“ If the Indians had been left in peace by covetous land-seekers, their civilization might in time have been accomplished.
There was practically no hostility manifested against the garrison by the surrounding Indians. In January, 1822, Colonel McNeil, who was in command at Fort Dearborn, received word from John Kinzie, the pioneer Chicago trader, that the Sioux and Fox Indians were planning an attack on Fort Snelling. Lieutenant James Webb immediately volunteered to bring the news to Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, from whence it could be sent to the upper post. ”

“ The veteran missionary, S. W. Pond, in recalling early days wrote that Scott Campbell no longer sits smoking his long pipe, and conversing in low tones with the listless loungers around the old Agency House; but who that resided in this country thirty or forty years ago can pass by the old stone houses near Fort Snelling and not think of Major Taliaferro and of his interpreter?197
And who can pass the Old Round Tower without thinking of those men who as officers at Fort Snelling ruled supreme over a vast region, and who left the fort for places of greater trust and greater influence? ”

“ It was the Indian fashion to attack by ambush. They did not have the patience to endure a protracted siege. The Americans did not belittle the strength of the military works. Little Thunder and White Head, two Indians who had escaped from the jail at Mackinac by cutting through the log walls, met an American, George Johnson, at Lac du Flambeau. They were very inquisitive about the strength of Fort Snelling and the number of Americans stationed there. ”

“ Take me to my early home at Fort Snelling, and help me to live over again that happy time, when I knew nothing of care and sorrow, and when the sight of the dear old flag, run up, each morning, to the roll of the drum, and the sentinel's call, each night, "All's well around," made me feel secure and at home, even in what was then a wilderness. Many pleasant scenes, and many startling ones, come at my call. Some are more vivid than others, and perhaps the most distinct of my early remembrances is the arrival of the first steamboat. ”

“ The soldier who sought freedom by stealthily climbing over the stone wall of Fort Snelling and appropriating some canoe drawn up on the river bank, left monotony and discipline behind him; but in doing so he faced many dangers. There was no settlement nearer than Prairie du Chien—a military establishment. Indians were not afraid to injure those whom they knew to be deserters. A certain man by the name of Dixon who deserted was captured by Indians who brought him back to Fort Snelling and received a reward of twenty dollars. ”

“ Were battles and military operations alone considered, the annals of Fort Snelling would comprise few pages; and were only military men characterized one of the most potent factors in the life of the fort would be omitted. The influence of the fort on the [067] Indians was felt more through the quiet daily work of the Indian agent who was their official friend. Although he was an officer entirely distinct from the military organization at the fort, his work may legitimately be accredited among the other activities of the post. ”

“ Employment was given the men upon the reservation, and those who preferred [190] to remain were allowed to settle upon the military grounds. Comparatively few, however, made their homes here, the greater number proceeding to Galena, Illinois, and Vevay, Indiana. On one occasion provisions for the down-river journey in government keel-boats were issued by Colonel Snelling.507
A third class of settlers around the fort was composed of discharged soldiers. Men stationed at Fort Snelling saw the agricultural value of the surrounding lands, or the possibility of riches in the fur trade. ”

“ Two soldiers who had just returned from an expedition to the Indian country, started for St. Paul on the evening of their return, carrying with them their blankets which they meant to sell for refreshment. [197] But their birch canoe upset and before aid could reach them they were drowned.532
But relations of a more innocent and more desirable sort also existed. In the officials of the Territory the officers at the fort found congenial spirits. One of the popular pastimes of the little city was to ride out upon the frozen Mississippi in sleighs to Fort Snelling. ”

“ Miles Vineyard, who was the sub-agent at Fort Snelling, was immediately sent to the villages of the Chippewas. Early in July the red men began to arrive, and by July 20th about a thousand men, women, and children had pitched their tepees near the fort. Many were the notable chiefs gathered there with their warriors. With the Pillager band from Leech Lake was Chief Flat Mouth, who had twenty-five times been on the warpath without receiving a wound, who had delivered his English medal to Pike in 1806, and whose band had been attacked by the Sioux under the walls of Fort Snelling in 1827. ”

“ Major Woods urged the American Indians and half-breeds to prevent by force the invasions, promising that the United States would support them. But it would be useless, he reported, to build a fort at Pembina unless at least two hundred fifty men were stationed there. It would be better to concentrate a large force at Fort Snelling, from whence expeditions could be made into the Indian country in all directions as necessity might arise. ”

“ The British flag was borne in triumph to wave from the flagstaff of Fort Ticonderoga after it had been evacuated by the colonial patriots during the dark days of 1777; but never was a foreign flag borne into Fort Snelling except to be burned in the sight of awestruck Indians. The guns of Fort Sumter announced the opening of the Civil War; never were the cannon at Fort Snelling fired at a foe. Mackinac was successively garrisoned by French, English, and American soldiers; whenever occupied by troops Fort Snelling flew the stars and stripes. ”

“ But if the lives of the natives were not elevated by their contact with the whites it was not because they had no opportunity. The forces which led to their degeneration had the start of the civilizing forces, and they also appealed more to the Indian's nature. At the same time both romance and lustre is added to the relations of Old Fort Snelling with the surrounding Indians by the story of the attempts of the men who had a vision of what Indian life could be, and who unselfishly tried to make that vision a reality, encouraged and supported by the military men at the fort. ”

“ A Collection of historical data regarding the origin and growth of the Catholic Church in the Northwest, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 18–21; and Pond's Two Volunteer Missionaries among the Dakotas, pp. 139–147.
331
Instead of lessening the disasters of Indian warfare, the building of Fort Snelling in the heart of the Indian country and upon the line dividing the ranges of the Dakotas and the Chippewas, had the direct effect of vastly increasing the horrors of that warfare. ”

“ The flints struck, and Toopunkah Zeze, now a hundred and fifty yards away and a second's distance from a place where the straggling groves of the prairie offered life, fell dead. Two more bodies were thrown over the precipice into the river.327
For ten years the hostility continued, but the environs of the fort were sacred places. An effective lesson had been taught in 1827. But on August 2, 1838, Hole-in-the-Day, a Chippewa chief, and five of his band came to Fort Snelling on a visit. That spring there had been a treacherous massacre by Hole-in-the-Day at a Sioux camp. ”

“ The failure was to result in a great massacre in 1862. This much at least can be said for Old Fort Snelling; it kept the Indians friendly while the foundations of American life were being laid in the Northwest. ”

“ The tourists who for many years had been frequenting the upper Mississippi now increased in numbers. In the Drive of All Visitors were included the Falls of St. Anthony, Lake Harriet, Minnehaha Falls, and Fort Snelling.537 From the lookout tower of the fort on the edge of the cliff, could be viewed the same scenery which had charmed Carver a hundred years before. Undoubtedly many thought as did the newspaper man who wrote: In the contemplation of this scene from Ft. Snelling, one is ravished with a desire to get upon it; and to appropriate a little domain for his home. It has the look of home. ”

“ In June, 1848, the company of infantry stationed at Fort Snelling received an urgent call to come to Wabasha's Prairie—near Winona, Minnesota. The Winnebago Indians were being transferred from their former home in the Turkey Valley region in Iowa to a new reservation obtained for them from the Chippewas. But when the Prairie was reached, the Winnebagoes visited with Wabasha and he sold it to them for a home. When Captain Seth Eastman arrived from Fort Snelling he was put in charge of the military forces which had been hastily brought together to force the Winnebagoes to continue their march. ”

“ Every piece of furniture will be sold, also, as we do not purpose to keep house at all while in Omaha. How I envy our friends who will go to Fort Snelling! We have always been told that it is such a beautiful post, and the people of St. Paul and Minneapolis are most charming. It seems so funny that the regiment should be sent to Snelling just as Colonel Munson was promoted to it. He will have to move six miles only!
We know that when we leave Fort Shaw we will go from the old army life of the West—that if we ever come back, it will be to unfamiliar scenes and a new condition of things. ”

“ While lying here, knowing not whether his companions were dead or alive, expecting himself to be a victim of either the cold or hunger or both, Chief Cloud Man resolved that if he ever returned to the vicinity of Fort Snelling he would not depend entirely upon the hunt for his living, but would also engage in farming under the direction of the Indian agent. ”

“ The barracks are just beyond the old fort. The hospital is a large, commodious building of stone. The parade field is a delightful bit of rolling prairie. The barracks are quite deserted now, most of the regiment being in the Philippines. Only a small detachment of twenty-five troops remains to take care of the property. Fort Snelling was the rendezvous of the Chippewas and the Sioux in the old days of Indian occupation. ”

“ What sort of a life did the soldier live in the barracks and on the parade ground, and in the world of prairies, rivers, and woods that lay about him? No person who was ever quartered within the walls of Old Fort Snelling seems to have left an account of what was included in the tasks and recreations of a day. ”

“ A recent sketch of Fort Snelling states that there were no white neighbors except traders, agents of fur companies, refugees from civilization and disreputable hangers-on.--Hammond's Quaint and Historic Forts of North America, p. 272. Many of the evicted settlers can not be classed among these. ”

“ The largest group, three hundred and sixty-eight souls, was that of the Tintatonwan band, located twenty-four miles from Fort Snelling and near the present town of Shakopee. Shapaydan or Shakpay was the chief, the father of the warrior of the same name who was executed at Fort Snelling for participating in the Sioux massacre of 1862.224
These villages were very much the same in appearance, large bark lodges being occupied by the Indians in the summer. The villages swarmed with children, squaws, painted warriors, and yelping dogs. ”

“ Peters. Fort Snelling is about a mile from the factory, and is situated on a steep promontory, in a commanding position; it is built of stone, and may be considered as impregnable to any attempt which the Indians might make, provided that it has a sufficient garrison. Behind it is a splendid prairie, running back for many miles.
The Falls of St. Anthony are not very imposing, although not devoid of beauty. You cannot see the whole of the falls at one view, as they are divided, like those of Niagara, by a large island, about one third of the distance from the eastern shore. ”

“ On July 29th the terms were finally agreed upon, and while the secretary was writing out the treaty the braves of the Chippewas held a dance under the walls of Fort Snelling. This indicated not only their satisfaction at the successful conclusion of the council, but was also intended as a compliment to [184] the commissioner. Three hundred warriors circled about in their gaudy costumes, recounting during the pauses of the dance the deeds of bravery they had done and the number of Sioux scalps they had obtained. ”