Iowa History
Project
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OTHER IOWA FORTS
The first fort on Iowa land at Fort Madison was
built to help traders. After it was destroyed no other forts were built until
the Government bought land west of the Mississippi from the Indians.
There was one new fort, however, that was very near to Iowa land.
That was Fort Armstrong, which was built in 1816 on Rock Island.
This island is located in the Mississippi River between the present
cities of Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. Because of its fine
position on the island and its nearness to Iowa, this fort played an important
part in our early history.
FORTS NEEDED
After eastern Iowa had been bought from the
Indians in 1833, through what is known as the Black Hawk Purchase, white
settlers came into Iowa and soldiers were needed to protect them from possible
Indian attacks. They were needed, too, because a new country usually has
some bad or lawless people who take advantage of the fact that there is no real
government. When a company of soldiers was sent to a new region it would
build a fort for protection.
THE FORTS DES MOINES
The second fort to be built on Iowa land was named
Fort Des Moines. It was built on the present site of the town of Montrose
and not at the present city of Des Moines. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen
Kearny, with three companies of cavalry, built the fort during the fall and
winter of 1834-35, but did not stay long with his soldiers. By the summer
of 1837 they were all gone and the colonel's house had become a hotel.
In 1842 the Government bought from the Sac and Fox
tribes all the land which those Indians then had in Iowa. The Red Men
were allowed to stay in Iowa for three more years. A fort was built to
keep white people off the Indians' land and to keep peace among the Indians.
This new fort was at the place where the Raccoon River flows into the Des
Moines River. Captain Allen was sent from Fort Sanford, with a few
soldiers, to build it. He arrived at the place in May, 1841, and named it
Fort Raccoon. General Scott changed the name to Fort Des Moines.
Settlers usually located near the forts because of
the protection they could have from attacks. During the first summer, while
the fort was being built, a trader, a tailor, a blacksmith, a farmer, and a
doctor located at the second Fort Des Moines. That was the beginning of
our present capital city. The soldiers were taken from the fort in 1846.
FORT ATKINSON
The Winnebago Indians, were moved onto the Neutral
Strip in northeast Iowa in 1840. A fort was needed to protect them from
tribes that were unfriendly. Soldiers were also needed to keep the
Indians on their own land or reservation.
In the spring of 1840 Captain Lynde, with 82 men,
came from Fort Crawford, at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He went into
camp on the Turkey River and began building a fort. The present town of
Fort Atkinson is located on the site. The next year more soldiers were
sent because it was feared that the Sac and Fox tribes would make an attack.
The soldiers were taken from Fort Atkinson in February, 1849.
FORT DODGE
Citizens of Boone County asked Congress to send
them soldiers and to build a fort. They feared an Indian attack but also
thought that other settlers would come if they had protection. Captain
Woods was sent from Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, Minnesota, with 68 men.
In August, 1850, he started Fort Clarke. The name was later changed
to Fort Dodge. The present city of Fort Dodge is located on the site.
Soldiers were withdrawn from the fort in June, 1853.
OTHER FORTS
Soldiers were stationed for a few months at the
Indian agency, now Agency, Iowa. They did not build a fort because they
were permitted by Mr. Sanford, agent for the American Fur Company, to use the
company's buildings. The station was named Fort Sanford.
Council Bluffs was the site for military posts in
southwestern Iowa. Forts Fenwick and Croghan were occupied by soldiers in
1842 and 1843.
PROMINENT MILITARY MEN
Several men who later became prominent in military
or political life came to Iowa. Jefferson Davis, later President of the
Confederacy, was stationed at one time on Rock Island and made trips into Iowa
land. Robert E. Lee, later the leader o the Southern troops in the Civil
War, made a surveying trip in southeastern Iowa. Winfield Scott, leader
of the American forces in the Mexican War, was in command of Fort Armstrong and
made a treaty with the Indians on the present site of Davenport. Zachary
Taylor, later President, was stationed at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and
visited Iowa land.
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