Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abercrombie is the first permanent military post in what was then Dakota Territory (USA) and was also known as Gateway to the Dakotas ( Gateway to the Dakotas known). It was founded on August 28, 1858 by Lieutenant Colonel John Joseph Abercrombie and named after him. Since the division of the Dakota territory into the two US states of North and South Dakota on November 2, 1889, the fort has been in North Dakota, on the border river to Minnesota , the Red River of the North . The task of the fort crew was to protect the wagon trains passing through on the Red River Trails and the steamships on the Red River. Goods for the treks were also deposited in the fort.
history
In the first two years, Fort Abercrombie was repeatedly hit by floods after the snowmelt and therefore had to be rebuilt in 1860 on a higher point.
In 1861 the American Civil War broke out. Much of the fort's regular crew was withdrawn and partially replaced by volunteer units.
In 1862 the Dakota Indians rose and attacked American farms and forts. The Dakota had lived on an Indian reservation in Minnesota since 1851 and were dependent on payments from the USA because their area was insufficient for self-sufficiency. Due to the corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs , the authority responsible for the Indians, payments were often not made. After a bad harvest, the situation for the Dakota came to a head in 1862. Fort Abercrombie was also affected by the uprising. It was besieged by Dakota warriors for six weeks. Ultimately, the US soldiers were able to put down the siege.
As a result of the siege, a three meter high palisade fence was built around the fort in January 1863.
Until 1877 the area around the fort was pacified, the fort was no longer needed and was abandoned. The fort's log houses were rotting. In 1904 only the guard house was left. It was declared a State Historic Site , has been a listed building since then and can be viewed by travelers. In 1939/40 parts of the former fort were rebuilt: two watchtowers, the cannon bastion and part of the palisades. The other buildings were at least marked out as floor plans. 2000–2002 the fort had to be renovated.
The town of Abercrombie has developed a few hundred meters from the fort . At the edge of the village there is a small museum with historical artifacts and a model of the fort.
literature
- Hans-Peter Schmitz: Fort Abercrombie, gateway to the Dakotas . In: Magazine for American Studies, Issue 3, 2007
Web links
- Official website (English).
- Friends of Fort Abercrombie (Engl.)
This article is based on the article Fort Abercrombie ( memento of July 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) from the free encyclopedia Indianer Wiki ( memento of March 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) and is under Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 . A list of the authors was available in the Indian Wiki ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Coordinates: 46 ° 26 ′ 42.7 " N , 96 ° 43 ′ 15.2" W.