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FORT DEFIANCE.Located In Estherville In an Early Day To* Protect Settlers From Indiana.piaot, where the erection of Fort De- building, as were the ocher*, was sidedAn Interesting.Sketch Bi One Who Was One of the Occupants.Time has lent a mysterious charm to thro old laud marks of this section ofIowa, and Its people grasp with eagor-oeia all information regarding its early ■r ' history. . *Tbd subject qf our sketch'-old Fort Defiance—a Amry good reproduction of which I* herewith given, was bull during the yere 1862-0, The horrors of . the massacre at Spirit- Lake, which aootfred in April, 1857. f?ei*e tfcitl fresh In the mindb of the people, The Sioux Indians under the leadership of Little Grow were ugly and hud already tsoom-J raitted depredations along the Mflnne* _ sota river. It hod'been represented to ** *Cro^^Xtf by striking a blow be could while a majority of the men were In the , northern army, actively engaged in the war, sweep every white settler , from west of the Mississippi river, and regain what the EMoux claimed aslt;J theirs, by right. Crow’s,band had already massacred the settlers in and• about Beltpoht, Windom , and Birch ^ Coulee, Minn, and were laying siege to •: New UIbj; v* I think It was in September, 1862,! . the* tbb Import reached qigong that v v tbs |ndlana^ece oomtpg down the Des -0$oines river, njurderjoff everyone in ’ihpl^phUi, W. Itfgham applied to§,;.''Cdy¥-• Kirkwood, jfiliso a ^roop ofeantfj?Ii| Kospu4»nd«djoiningcouc-• ties, to atop thalr pr^yesa) wb lob wasjimme^ilWeJy grantedC fbe plan wasPortpis^^olnt jo Mlnpaspta,. J^oplp |^a| ftwi ordered to aWhere the area-.fiance was'Commenced In November or December of tbe above year.Some of our present citizens belonged to the troop and assisted in its con-Btructlon.. Geo. F. Sohnad, Sr., now 1$ bis 77th year, laid out most of the work and B. E, Ridley was active to getting out the.materli. (As soon;as Capt. Ingham completed his pi an sfoV the fort, details were made for work. One detail out and hewed the logs, of which the wails of the black houses were built, while anotherdetail commenced repairs on the dam across the Des Moines river, whichover* the logs with-'black walnut siding; it contained two rooms below, and an attic the full length of the building. The building In the frontof tho picture was 16x3d, containing three rooms he low—a kitchen, dining room and general quarters, commonly known as the *• bar room,” with attic the full length pf the building, used for sleeping quarters. The smaller building in the left of the picture was the jail or guard house. It was built on. the same general plan as tho other building. ThodimensionV I think, were 16x16 footwith walla 8 feet high.?•».i..-I r.■*': 'I . I. ■ r 1 mm’ftand block houses wai #k» mi116yc4 to Col.•A sVi*.fonrD'EFiflNct: v,-vi'furnished power to **nn tho saw mill, where plank for the stockade and other necessary lumber was sawed. The wegtbejr’ was bitter cold* and many were tbeiypjteu fingers, ears and feet,that wintfp, but the work went stead-My onlt; ah# by spring , the buddings were eoinpped,-• ^be dl^tolens tho enclosure was |2d fpeieontafplpji the block ’ ' tbft out, ■ The'11' was^anCresid«»ce— feet with w»i)i ifi feet• r-The barn made the south wall of^he enclosure, and was 26x120 feet, with 13 foot ppsts. It was . built of solidlyframed bard wood, and sided with oakand walbut lumber, It was protected on thb southr-the exposed side—by a sod w||l four feet thick and eight feet high, the ends were of fopr inch plank, as were also the outer doors. The in-teryp^gapace betw^n the buildingswal j^kkded with fopr inch planks— mostbyj^lnut^elgto'fo high, spr-mod||j^.^;VO.ws olgtolptUng spikes.IMldhigs^iyjyp loop holed. J »tQ$|feat intervalsof two or three feet.In the center of the enclosure was the well, vvrth abundant water and about mid way between the captain's and company quarter* stood the flag staff, where old glory waved for about a year and a half.a .Tho barn would hold about 60 horses, and hay and grain enough to stand a a lego of 30 days.Cupt. Ingham's troop had enlisted for^JO days, but it was 15 months before Lhe$ wdi*e mustered out, and then the post was turned over to I troop,' U. S. Cavaly, Lewis Wolf, Captain. Many of tho state troop, who had served un- ( der Ingham, joined i troop and remained at the fori. In April of the year fwllowlug—18tii-I troop was ordered to the front, in the Indian campaign, which ended the occupancy of the fort by troops.\ #The disintegration of the old fortsoon followed. The buildings were left In charge of Nelson Hamlin, whose Interest in the property ceased wheu the last trooper was out of Idght. it was made a temporary refuge for a great many of the familien who had begun to. seek homesteads in this section, They would move into any of the buildings which happened to be vacant and hold a squatter’s lease thereon until they had completed cabins on their claims. Plank by plank the Stockade disappeared ; every board or stick that came loose of its own accord, or could be pried loos.e was gobbled up, and'either used for firewood or In the construe lion of some settler's cabin. Lightning struck the “ liberty pole,’lt; and it disappeared in splinters;the gates disappeared, a»d in I8ik, when the property was sold to one, Haskell, pf Fort Dodge, there was but the,block houses and barn remaining. Thee© buildings werp afterwards sold to I. Skinner, aud letter sold by him aud moved ***y; some of them still doing duty .as |yellli)gs, and the barn, which waa cu|||ntp three seotipnst i« still aerving;|j| barns on as many differentfayon n§§ far from JEstberVtHc.« •■»■■■ ' ' ''■ i tir •• ••
Newspaper Details
Emmet County Republican
Estherville, Iowa, US
Thu, Feb 27, 1902
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Don B.
USA 13 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Estherville, Iowa
Northern Vindicator
Estherville Enterprise
Estherville Spirit
Estherville Publications Spirit Edition
Estherville Daily News
