North Dakota Forts of the Old West

North Dakota Forts of the Old West

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Fort Clark (1830-1861) - Another non-military fort, this site was another trading post built by James Kipp. Before the fur trader, an employee of American Fur Company, built Fort Clark, the location was already home to the Mandan Indians who had built a village of earth-covered homes on the bluffs of the west bank of the Missouri River at the confluence of Chardon Creek and Clark's Creek. Kipp built the trading post in 1830-31 just south of the village to enhance trade with the Indians. The post measured 120 by 160 feet, was surrounded by a palisade, and inside its walls, were a home for head trader Francis A. Chardon and other fur trade buildings.

The first steamboat up the Upper Missouri River arrived at Fort Clark in 1832, delivering all types of trade goods and returned with hundreds of bison robes and beaver pelts. Unfortunately, the steamboats also brought with them, diseases that the Mandan Indians had never been exposed to. In June, 1837, one of the boats was carrying passengers infected with smallpox. Within no time, the disease swept through the Mandan village, killing about 90 percent of them. A few months later, those that survived, abandoned their village. The following year, Arikara Indians moved into the abandoned village. For several years, they did well, until yet another epidemic hit them – this time cholera in 1851 which took many lives. Another smallpox epidemic occurred in 1856, further reducing their numbers. The fur traders moved from th sit after the trading post was badly damaged by fir in 1860. Despite the devastating tragedies, the Arikara continued to use the village as a summer home until 1861, when they were attacked by Dakota Indians. What little was left of the abandoned fort was scavenged by passing steamboats to use as firewood.

Though no buildings remain of the old trading post today, it has become an important archeological site due to its well-preserved record of the fur trade and of personal tragedy. The archeological remains of the large earth lodge village, cemetery, and trading post are now protected and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located about 1 ¼ mile west of the town of Fort Clark in Mercer County. Open daily during the summer, there is no admission fee to the archeological site, which provides a self-guided tour, interpretive signs, a picnic area and observation deck.

Fort Clark State Historic Site

HC 2, Box 26

Center, North Dakota 58530

701-794-8832

Fort Ransom (1867-1872) - On June 17, 1867, the 10th U.S. Infantry, under the leadership of Major George H. Crosman arrived in southeastern North Dakota, in what is present day Ransom County, to build a fort. The purpose for the military post was to protect settlers and railroad workers building the Northern Pacific Railroad from Fargo to Bismarck. Situated on Grizzly Bear Hill, the post was named in honor of Major General Thomas E.G. Ransom, a Civil War hero.

The soldiers first began enclosing an area measuring 350 by 400 feet with breastworks and then began to build several log buildings, including barracks, quartermaster and commissary storehouses, a granary, bakery, guardhouse, hospital, stables, and other buildings. However, according to an 1869 inspection report, most of the buildings were primitive and unfinished. Just three years later, in 1872, the post was dismantled and the materials used to build Fort Seward at Jamestown.

Today, though no buildings remain, the location is a state historic site. The building locations and dry moat are still visible. The site is located 3/4 mile southwest of the town of Fort Ransom, North Dakota.

Fort Ransom State Historic Site

State Historical Society of North Dakota

612 E. Blvd. Ave.

Bismark, North Dakota 58505

701-328-2666

Fort Rice (1864-1878) - This military post was established in July, 1864 by General Alfred H. Sully as a field base for his summer expeditions. At this time, travel in the area was unsafe due to aggressive Indian attacks on the transportation routes. The U.S. Government, in an attempt to make both the land and river routes safe for travelers, sent General Sully and the 30th Wisconsin Infantry to build the post. The fort buildings were constructed of cottonwood logs cut from the banks of the nearby river and prairie sod for the buildings’ roofs. The Wisconsin infantry was later replaced by 1st US Volunteer Infantry, a group of soldiers comprised primarily of Confederate prisoners of war, familiarly known as “Galvanized Yankees,” who had agreed to assist the U.S. Army in the western Frontier instead of languishing in a Union prison.

Life was rough at the fledgling fort, with soldiers suffering from severe cold and disease during the first year. Some 81 men died in the post’s first year; however, only seven of these deaths were due to hostile activity. The post served as base of operations for General Sully from 1864-65 and later, was the location of several important Indian negotiations, which would eventually lead to the Fort Laramie Treaty. Fort Rice was abandoned in November, 1878 when Fort Yates was built on the Standing Rock Agency.

Located in present-day Morton County, 8/10 of a mile southeast of the town of Fort Rice, the no buildings mark the Fort Rice State Historic Site. However, in the 1940’s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) marked many of Fort Rice’s original foundations, and today there are maps and additional markers at the site.

Fort Stevenson (1867-1883) - Established in June 1867 by Major Joseph N.G. Whistler with troops from Fort Berthold, the fort was named for Brigadier General Thomas G. Stevenson who was in the Civil War. The post's objectives were to serve as a supply base for Fort Totten and protect the vessels traveling along the Missouri River. Though the post was never directly attacked, the troops were sometimes engaged in skirmishes. However, the greater danger to soldiers at the fort were the fierce winters on the northern plains, where temperatures would often drop to 40 degrees below zero. Fort Stevenson was abandoned in the summer of 1883, the buildings dismantled and the troops transferred to Fort Buford. Today, the site is under the waters of Lake Sakakawea on the Missouri River.

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