North Dakota Forts

American Forts: West

NORTH DAKOTA

Last Update: 01/JULY/2007

Compiled by Phil and Pete Payette - Š2007 American Forts Network

¤ Forts of the Red River (Pembina) Colony

¤ Pembina House
(Pembina Museum)
(1803 - 1823, 1863 - 1876), Pembina
A Hudson's Bay Co. trading post sometimes referred to as Fort Pembina (1). In 1863 the site was occupied by Minnesota Volunteers during the Sioux Uprisings. Located on Rolette Street.

The Pembina settlement (1812) started as several trading posts built by British Canadians under the sponsorship of the Hudson's Bay Co. It was part of the Red River Colony in Manitoba. When the northern U.S. border was fixed in 1818, Britain ceded the area and most of the settlers then moved north. The rest moved north in 1823 when a survey confirmed that the settlement was in the United States. This was the first white settlement in the state.

¤ Pembina River House
(1800 - 1823 ?), Pembina
Also called Pembina Mountain Post and Hair Hills Post. It was established by the North West Company as a fur trade post, but it became known for its vegetable gardens.

¤ Fort Daer
(1812 - 1822), Pembina
A Hudson's Bay Co. post on the Red River at the mouth of the Pembina River, which experienced bitter friction with the nearby North West Co. post. In 1816 the "Nor'Westers" occupied this post for a few months. Named after Lord Selkirk, the Baron Daer.

¤ Henry House
(1801 - 1822), Pembina
A North West Co. stockaded post also called Fort Henry, built by Alexander Henry, located just north of the mouth of the Pembina River.

¤ Fort Pambian
(1797 - 1815), Pembina
A North West Co. post also called Charles Chaboillez Post. It burned down. The site is in Selkirk Park on Stutsman Street.

¤ Park River Post
(1800 - unknown), near Oakwood
A North West Co. trading post on the west-side of the Red River, a quarter-mile from the mouth of the Park River.

¤ Turtle River Post
(1812 - unknown), near Manvel
A Hudson's Bay Co. post on the Red River at the mouth of the Turtle River, 18 miles north of Grand Forks.

¤ Grand Forks Post
(1807 - 1822, 1875 - 1881), Grand Forks
Also known as Grand Forks House, and Grandes Fourches, a North West Co. trading post founded by members of the Pembina settlement.
The Hudson's Bay Co. had a post here much later.

Fort Pembina (2)
(1870 - 1895), Pembina
Originally called Fort George H. Thomas. Located just south of the town, it was built to keep watch over the Sioux and the growing disturbances of the Red River Settlements in Manitoba, and it also helped to suppress two raids into Canada by the Fenian Society. The fort burned down in 1895 and the surviving buildings were auctioned off in 1902. The site is near the Pembina Airport.

Fort Totten (State Historical Site)
(Devils Lake Sioux Indian Reservation)
(1867 - 1890), Fort Totten
Permanent brick buildings were built in 1870 when the Indian Reservation was established. Seventeen restored brick buildings remain and the park is considered to be the best preserved, and most scenic, Army post on the plains. In 1891 it became the Fort Totten Indian Agency and boarding school. Admission fee.
This is also the site of a 1863 Sibley Campaign camp site, which became Post on Devils Lake in 1864, soon renamed Fort Hays before it was abandoned in 1864.

Camp Briggs
(1898), Fargo
A temporary staging and training encampment for state troops for the Spanish-American War, lasting only one month. Site located in the "Huntington Addition", at the end of Eighth Street between 17th and 18th Aves.

Fort Abercrombie (State Historical Site)
(1857 - 1878), Abercrombie
Reconstructed stockade and three blockhouses, plus the original guardhouse. This was the first Federal fort in the state, later becoming the terminus of the military mail routes from Forts Stevenson and Wadsworth. Abandoned in 1859, reoccupied in 1860 and rebuilt. The Sioux besieged the fort in 1862 while most of the troops were sent away to the south. Rebuilt again in 1863. The post buildings were sold to area settlers after closing. Admission fee.

Sheyenne River Post
(1825 - unknown), Ransom County
An American Fur Company trading post. Located on the Sheyenne River about 50 miles from its juction with the Red River.

Fort Ransom (State Historical Site)
(1867 - 1872), Fort Ransom
Built on Grizzly Bear Hill to protect railroad workers and the emmigrant trail across the plains. It was a log stockade with two blockhouses. Replaced by Fort Seward.

Fort Seward
(1872 - 1877), Jamestown
Built from materials from Fort Ransom after that fort was abandoned. Originally named Camp Sykes, and then Fort Cross until 1873. In 1925 the site was donated for a state park by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The site is located on a bluff where the railroad crosses the James River.

Fort Yates (Standing Rock Indian Reservation)
(1874 - 1903), Fort Yates
This fort replaced Fort Rice, and was replaced in turn by Fort Lincoln (2) in Bismark. Originally named Post at Standing Rock Indian Agency until 1878. Located here is Sitting Bull Burial State Historical Site. Although abandoned by the military in 1903, it remained the headquarters for the Indian Reservation. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the night near here in 1804.

North Cannonball Indian Village
(North Cannonball Archaeological Site)
(unknown dates), near Cannon Ball
Ruins of a prehistoric fortified Mandan village on the north bank of the Cannonball River. Explorer John Evans named the site Jupiter's Fort in 1796, for some unknown reason. The earthen ruins of the ditch and several bastions have been badly disturbed over the years by modern agriculture.

Fort Rice Indian Village
(Lower Fort Rice Archaeological Site)
(unknown dates), near Fort Rice
A prehistoric fortified Mandan village.

Fort Rice (State Historical Site)
(1864 - 1879), Fort Rice
A crude log and earthen fort established by General Alfred Sully, located opposite the mouth of Long Lake Creek. It was rebuilt with adobe in 1868. Replaced by Fort Yates. Two blockhouses have been restored.

Cadell Indian Village
(Cadell Homestead Archaeological Site)
(unknown dates), near Fort Rice
A prehistoric fortified Mandan village that appears to have been larger than the Huff Site (see below).

Huff Indian Village (State Historical Site)
(1480 - unknown), Huff
A fortified Mandan village containing about 100 houses. Site has been excavated.

Fort Abraham Lincoln (1) (State Park)
(1872 - 1891), Mandan
Originally known as Fort McKean (or McKeen), it was located at the mouth of the Heart River. Late 1872 it was moved a few miles south and renamed. There are reconstructed blockhouses and barracks here. The 1873 Custer House is also here. The fort was abandoned after the Northern Pacific Railroad was complete and the Sioux were settled on reservations. Settlers then dismantled the post. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the night here in 1804.

Camp Hancock (State Historical Site)
(1872 - 1877), Bismarck
Originally Camp Greeley and served to protect the railroad. One of the original log buildings still exists, and has been used as an exhibit area by the city. Camp Hancock (also known as Fort Hancock) became a supply depot for Fort Abraham Lincoln (1).

Fort Abraham Lincoln (2)
(United Tribes Technical College)
(1899 - 1966), Bismark
Established on the east side of the Missouri River just south of the city as a replacement for Fort Yates. It was garrisoned intermittently until World War II when it was used as a German POW camp until 1946. Became the division headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers in 1948 during the Garrison Dam Project. It was used as a Job Corps Training Center from 1966 to 1968. Became the United Tribes Technical College in 1969, which acquired full ownership of the site in 1974. Most of the original buildings still exist.
(thanks to Doug Quinn of UTTC for providing additional info)

Double Ditch Indian Village (State Historical Site)
(1675 - 1780), near Bismarck
Ruins of a fortified Mandan village 12 miles north of the city.

Menoken Indian Village (State Historical Site)
(1100 - unknown), Menoken
An early fortified Indian village.

Molander Indian Village (State Historical Site)
(1780 - 1845), Price
A late fortified Mandan village. Located on private property.

J. P. Tilton's Post
(1823 - 1826), Fort Clark
A Columbia Fur Company post erected by James Kipp one mile from the future site of Fort Clark, and named for its first trader. Due to hostilities with the Arikara, the post was dismantled in 1824. The logs from the palisades were floated across the river and the post was rebuilt within the Mandan villages.

Fort Clark (State Historical Site)
(1831 - 1860), Fort Clark
An American Fur Co. post built by Kames Kipp. Ruins located two miles north of town. The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38 started here when the company steamboat St. Peters stopped here, carrying at least three infected passengers who boarded at Council Bluffs, IA or Omaha, NE. The disease spread like wildfire among all the Upper Plains Indians over the next few years, killing over 17,200.

Charles Primeau's Post
(1850's), Fort Clark
Ruins of a fur trading post still exist. A competitor to Fort Clark.

Fort Mandan (1) (State Historical Site)
(1804 - 1805), near Washburn
Lewis and Clark built a winter camp here. Sakakawea (also spelled Sacagawea) joined them on their journey from this point. She was from one of the Knife River villages (see below). The triangular-shaped stockade was burned down after Lewis and Clark left the area. The actual site is now under the Missouri River about 14 miles west of town, about three miles southeast of the state park. The current structure is a replica of a St. Louis Missouri Fur Co. trading post from 1809 (see Fort Manuel Lisa (2) below).

Knife River Indian Villages (National Historic Site)
(1781 or 1782 - unknown), near Stanton
A group of three Hidatsa villages (Big Hidatsa, Sakakawea, Amahami) at the mouth of the Knife River, and two Mandan villages on the Missouri River below the mouth of the Knife River. The two Mandan villages (Big White, aka Deapolis or Mitutanka, and Black Cat, aka Ruhptare) were fortified by palisades and bastions surrounded by a wide dry ditch. The Mandans had relocated here from sites further south along the Missouri River, due to a smallpox epidemic among other Indian tribes.

René Jusseaume's House (Post)
(1794 - 1795, 1796 - 1797), near Stanton
A North West Co. stockaded trading post built on the west bank of the Missouri River just below the mouth of the Knife River, between the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. Also spelled Jusson or Gousseaume. The abandoned post was confiscated for Spain by explorer John Evans and renamed Fort Makay.

Fort Manuel (1)
(1804 ?), near Stanton
An early trading post built by Manuel Lisa below the mouth of the Knife River near the Mandan villages.

Fort Manuel Lisa (2)
(1809 - 1812, 1822 - 1823), near Pick City
A St. Louis Missouri Fur Co. trading post on Emanuel Creek, also called Fort Lisa, Fort Mandan (2), and Fort Lewis. It was built by Meriwether Lewis' brother Reuben. A replica of this post is located to the south at Fort Mandan SHS. The site was reoccupied in 1822 and called Fort (William) Vanderburgh. The actual site is now underwater.

Fort Stevenson (State Park)
(1867 - 1883), Garrison
Located at the mouth of Douglas Creek, this fort replaced the military post at Fort Berthold (2) and was originally called New Fort Berthold (3). It was later replaced by Fort Buford and turned over to the Fort Berthold Indian Agency for use as a school until 1894. The site is now under the waters of Lake Sakakawea. A replica Guardhouse was built in 2002 as the new visitors center.

Fort Berthold (1)
(1845 - 1862 ?), near Emmet, Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
An American Fur Co. post on the Misouri River.

Fort Berthold (2)
(1858 - 1874), near Emmet, Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
Originally known as Fort Atkinson, a fur trade post built by Charles Larpenteur on the Missouri River (Lake Sakakawea), southwest of town. The site was purchased by the American Fur Company in 1862 and renamed to replace their Fort Berthold (1). U.S. troops built a log camp outside the stockade in 1864 - 1865. In 1867 the military garrison moved to Fort Stevenson. From 1868 to 1874 the post was the Indian Agency for the Arikara, Gros Ventre (Hidatsa), and Mandans, and continued to function as a trading post. The site is now underwater.

Camp Seclusion
(1855), Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
A temporary Army encampment located somewhere near the mouth of the Little Missouri River.

Fort Kipp
(1825 - 1830), near New Town
A Columbia Fur Co. 96-foot square trading post, also known as James Kipp's Post, located at the mouth of the White Earth River. The Columbia Fur Company and the American Fur Company merged in 1827, and in 1830 trader James Kipp was ordered to abandon this post and build Fort Clark downriver.

Fort Union Trading Post (National Historic Site)
(1828 - 1867), Buford
An American Fur Company trading post originally known as Fort Floyd. It was enclosed by a 20-feet high stockade with two blockhouses. In 1864 - 1865 the Army under General Sully moved in temporarily until Fort Buford was built, which used materials from this fort. This was the longest lasting trading post in the continental U.S. Several buildings have been reconstructed.

Fort William (1)
(1833 - 1836), Buford
A Sublette and Campbell Co. trading post built 2.5 miles east of Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Sold to the American Fur Co. in 1834, but kept in operation. It was moved to within 150 yards of Fort Union in 1836 before finally closing.

Fort Mortimer
(1842 - 1846), Buford
A Union Fur Company post, a competitor to the American Fur Company at Fort Union. Built about one-half mile east of the remains of Fort William (1). Four years later it was sold to the American Fur Co.

Fort William (2)
(1858 - 1866), Buford
An American Fur Co. adobe trading post built on the site of Fort Mortimer. Fort Buford was built using salvaged remains of this post.

Fort Buford (State Historical Site)
(1866 - 1895), Buford
Replaced Fort Union using some of the dismantled parts from that post and from Fort William (2). Chief Joseph surrendered here in 1877, and Sitting Bull surrendered here in 1881. Abandoned in 1895 for Fort Assiniboine in Montana. Two buildings remain, the stone powder house and the restored Officers' quarters housing a museum. Admission fee. Another website

Camp Barbour
(1825), near Buford
A temporary camp from General Henry Atkinson's expedition located on the south bank of the Missouri River. They occupied the partially burnt cabins of an unnamed stockaded trading post. The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near here in 1805 and again in 1806.

Cantonment Bad Lands
(1879 - 1883), near Medora
A Federal camp on the west bank of the Little Missouri River to protect the Northern Pacific Railroad. Also known as Cantonment at Little Missouri Crossing.

Camp Houston
(1880), Dickinson
A temporary Army cavalry post to protect railroad construction crews.

Fort Dilts (State Historical Site)
(1864), near Rhame
A makeshift sod-wall fort where a settlers' wagon train bound for Montana was attacked for 14 days by Sioux until Army reinforcements arrived from Fort Rice.

Camps of General Alfred Sully's Campaign (State Historical Sites)
(1863 - 1864)
A secondary Federal expedition to put down the 1862-63 Sioux Uprising.
Camp Sully (or Sully Base Camp) near Richardton (Sully's Heart River Corral SHS),
Camp Johnson near Hastings, which is also the site of John Frémont's 1839 Camp Frémont (Birch Creek SHS).
There were probably several other camp sites, but they are not known at this time.

Camps of General H.H. Sibley's Campaign (State Historical Sites)
(1863 - 1864)
The main Federal expedition to put down the 1862-63 Sioux Uprising.
Camp Buell SHS near DeLamere,
Camp Weiser SHS near Kathryn,
Camp Sheartown (or Sheardown) SHS near Valley City,
Camp Arnold SHS at Oriska,
Camp Corning SHS at "Sibley Crossing" near Sibley,
Camp Atchison (or Atcheson) SHS, northeast shore of Lake Sibley south of Binford, fortified and occupied for a month.
Camp Kimball SHS west of Pingree,
Camp Grant SHS south of Woodworth,
Camp Whitney SHS north of Tappen,
Camp Banks north of Driscoll (Chaska SHS).

Other sites on private property (in order of the route taken):
Camp Parker near Cayuga,
Camp Hayes near Lisbon,
Camp Wharton east of Fort Ransom,
Camp Smith north of Valley City,
Camp Pope near Luverne,
Camp Forbes near Kensal,
Camp Olin east of Edmonds near Mud Lake,
Camp Sibley south of Pettibone near Big Mound (on Chase Lake ?). The Battle of Big Mound occurred here in July 1863.
Camp Pfaender north of Steele at Dead Buffalo Lake. The Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake occurred here in July 1863.
Camp Shoeneman north of Driscoll,
Camp Stees north of Sterling on Apple Creek,
Camp Slaughter near Lincoln.

(see also SOUTH DAKOTA and MINNESOTA pages for additional sites)

NEED MORE INFO: Undetermined locations and dates: Camp Ambler, Camp Austin, Camp Barton, Camp Braden, Camp Carter, Camp Cox, Camp Defender, Camp Edgerton, Camp Gilfallen, Camp Hall, Camp Kennedy, Camp Libby, Camp Monroe, Camp Stevens, Camp Williston.