Fort Snelling - Part 1

Today I visited Fort Snelling, which is administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.  It's pretty close to both my undisclosed location and Minneapolis International Airport.  It's located close to the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, which the Dakota people call Bdóte.  The fort was originally named Fort Saint Anthony, but was renamed Fort Snelling in 1825 after Colonel Josiah Snelling, who oversaw the completion of its construction.

Fort Snelling was decommissioned in 1946 and used as the headquarters of an Army Reserve brigade from 1963 to 1994.  Over the years, walls and buildings were removed.  In 1965, work began on restoring the fort to its original appearance.  Minnesota route 5 passes through tunnels under the fort.  The first thing I saw was this memorial to a treaty signed in 1805 by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike (after whom Pike's Peak was later named), near the modern parking lot.

I walked over to the visitor center, which includes a museum, and bought my ticket for a tour of the fort.

Before leading us visitors into the fort, our guide led us to an overlook above the Mississippi River.  The beach area in the middle next to the river is a dog park.

After we entered the fort, I took a picture of the round tower at its west end.  At one time, it was used to incarcerate civilian criminals before nearby towns built their own jails.

These three musicians walked by, playing a song that I recognized but whose title I didn't know.

This is one building used to house enlisted men.  The end of a second such barracks is in the background to the right.

The fort's restored Sutler Store is near the barracks seen in the picture just above.  Today's equivalent would be a PX or commissary.

At the east end of the fort is the commander's quarters, seen here in shade.

The musicians seen above eventually found their way to the round tower, in front of which is the powder magazine and a well.

After seeing the commander's quarters, we visited the officers' quarters, the northern side of which are seen here.

The officers naturally had much more space than the enlisted men.  Here is the bedroom of an officer's apartment that the guide showed to us visitors.  A baby's cradle sits on the bed.

I think that this is a good place to stop for Part 1.  Stay tuned for Part 2.