Historic Fort Snelling of St. Paul is under attack.
No, not from enemy forces but from the ravages of time and sad neglect.
Many of its buildings are a sorry state, verging on crumbling ruination.
The good news is the 2017 legislative bonding bill will include $34 million for a major restoration for that historic complex of buildings, including its huge iconic round fortress tower.
Let us hope legislators approve the bonding amount so when Historic Fort Snelling celebrates its bicentennial in 2020, visitors will be impressed by how the entire complex has been renewed and restored.
Fort Snelling began as Fort St. Anthony in 1819 and was commanded by Col. Josiah Snelling, for whom it was named. Snelling also helped design and oversee construction of the fort, which is located on a bluff near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.
Born in Boston in 1783, Snelling had a long, distinguished military career, including a role in the War of 1812. The fort in Minnesota was built to guard against encroachments from the British and Canadians, to help keep the peace and to monitor river traffic.
The uses of Fort Snelling changed with the march of history. During the Dakota War in 1862, sad to say, it became an internment camp for Native American women, children and older people, and hundreds of them died there during the harsh winter; during World War II its building housed a school to teach many American Army personnel the Japanese language; it also served as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Reserve 205th infantry brigade until it was deactivated in 1994.
The reason Fort Snelling is so historic is it was a cultural crossroads of so many who made Minnesota history: military people, Native Americans (Dakota, Ojibwe), fur traders, immigrants, even some slaves or former slaves brought from the South.
Historic Fort Snelling was placed on the National Historic Landmark list in 1960 and is now operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. In a sad irony, Fort Snelling was placed on the list of one of the most endangered historic sites in 2006.
Not far from the fort is the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in which 220,000 veterans and family members of veterans are buried. Almost every Minnesotan knows at least one person who is buried there.
The MNHS is using non-state funds to hire architects and a construction company to come up with schematic designs on how to renovate Historic Fort Snelling. Fortunately, the MNHS is involving many groups to be part of the renovation, including Native Americans, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and military personnel. If the bonding money is approved, the fort will be strengthened as an educational venue of Minnesota history.
Let’s urge our legislators to approve the Historic Fort Snelling bonding money for 2017. We’ll all have something to be proud of and to celebrate when the Snelling Bicentennial presents to us our state’s history, restored.
