Fort Snelling - Part 2

Although slavery was outlawed in what is now Minnesota under both the Northwest Ordinance and the Missouri Compromise, fur traders and military officers brought slaves to Fort Snelling.  The fort's surgeon, John Emerson, brought his slave Dred Scott to the fort from Missouri.  Scott married a woman named Harriet Robinson, who had been brought from Virginia to Fort Snelling by her enslaver Lawrence Taliaferro.  During their time at the fort, Dred and Harriet Scott are believed to have lived in the room behind the red door seen here, at one end of the fort's hospital.  According to our tour guide, they probably slept on the floor.  The Scotts would later sue for their freedom, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

This end of the hospital is near the officers' quarters, the south side of which is seen in the next picture.  Here we see that the building had two stories.

After visiting where the Scotts are thought to have lived, we walked to the fort's south gate.

This is one end of the powder magazine.  A shed for cannons is seen behind it to the right.  A boat is under the outer part of the magazine's roof.

We were allowed to enter and climb up the round tower.  This shot shows part of the powder magazine, a school house (behind the flag pole), the hospital, the officers' quarters, and parts of the fort's south wall.

In this shot from a different direction, you can see the powder magazine, the well, the cannon shed, the Sutler store, and quarters for the officers, enlisted men, and the fort's commander.

After the tour concluded and I walked out of the fort, I went to the south side of it and found a "three sisters garden" including corn, beans and squash, close to the fort's south gate as seen from the outside.

South of the fort is the Fort Snelling Chapel, which is available for wedding, funerals and memorials.

Finally, I visited the grave of Whiskey the horse.  It's pretty close to the modern parking lot.

According to our guide, only the commander's quarters, officers' quarters, round tower, and south gun battery are original structures, but even they have undergone restoration after deteriorating over the years.