Fort Snelling

Built between 1819 and 1825 on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, Fort Snelling played a pivotal role in the settling of Minnesota.

Called “Fort St. Anthony” during construction, it was renamed Fort Snelling after Col. Josiah Snelling, who oversaw the building project and became the fort’s first commander. Snelling was the northwestern-most outpost of a string of forts stretching back to Lake Michigan, construction of which began after the War of 1812. The forts let the United States take control of the valuable British-dominated fur trade in the area by keeping noncitizens from using the major rivers for shipping — the first step toward establishing firm ownership of the sprawling land.

The fort drew traders, Indians and merchants, and over the next 30 years a community sprang up around it, including a group of Scotch and Irish refugees fleeing a troubled colony in Canada. The refugees were ordered to move further downriver in 1839 — forming what eventually became the city of St. Paul.

As the settlements of Minneapolis and St. Paul grew and treaties pushed local Indian tribes on to reservations, the need for a military outpost in the region declined. In 1858, the entire 8,000-acre military reservation (covering most of what is now Minneapolis) was sold to a developer for $90,000 and the fort closed. It reopened as an induction station during the Civil War, but then all-but-closed again. The original fort decayed into ruins, and the surrounding military post was home to nothing more than a small permanent garrison for the next 80 years.

World War II provided one final heyday for the fort. Once again pressed into service as an induction station, Fort Snelling gave more than 300,000 soldiers their first taste of military life. For many of them Fort Snelling was also their last stop before leaving the military after the war ended.

Interest in restoring the original fort picked up after the war’s end. It hit a crisis point in 1956, when highway planners proposed encircling the round tower — one of the few structures still standing — with a highway cloverleaf. Public outrage killed that idea and led to a series of archaelogical digs that uncovered the perimeter of the old fort. In 1961 the state established the 2,800-acre Fort Snelling State Park, and the original fort site itself became Minnesota’s first national historic landmark. Reconstruction began in 1965 and mostly finished by 1979. Today, about 100,000 visitors a year tour the restored fort.

Militarily, Fort Snelling is a diamond-shaped structure with towers at each of the four points. The iconic Round Tower occupies the western point, guarding the landward approaches to the fort. The South Battery keeps watch over the Minnesota River and the fort’s main approach road, the Half Moon Battery overlooks the spot where the rivers meet, and the North Battery faces the Mississippi River.

Photo: Minnesota Historical Society.