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14. Other Forts of the Dragoon Era, 1837–1853
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other Forts of the dragoon era, 1837–1853 But why need we furnish garrisons of such strength when surely no attack from the Indians or any other people can be apprehended? I answer that all our frontier posts should be viewed as though they were located in the immediate presence of a watchful enemy.—Colonel George Croghan In addition to the better-known dragoon-era forts, such as Fort Des Moines No. 2 and Fort Atkinson, several smaller forts stood in Iowa between the War of 1812 and the Dakota uprising. Many of these forts are not as well documented as other dragoon-era forts and have not been archaeologically investigated. As early as 1833the plan for a stronger military frontier included smaller fortifications: “a line of exterior posts projected into the Indian country beyond the existing cessions for the purpose of repressing or overawing intertribal hostilities or uprisings against the settlements. Likewise an interior line of posts was considered which might furnish places of refuge during special danger or alarms and depots for arms and supplies” (Pelzer 1917:78). Many of these interior posts were intended to stop the encroachment of Euro-American settlers onto Indian lands and to police Indians at specific locations. As the tide of settlers advanced, Indians and soldiers retreated westward (Beers 1935). Council Bluffs Blockhouse, 1837–1838 Two companies of troops arrived in the Council Bluffs area by steamboat in 1837 and erected a “fort or blockhouse in what is now the eastern part c I n d y l. n a g e l 14 Cindy L. Nagel | 179 of Council Bluffs” (Baskin and Company 1883). The blockhouse at Council Bluffs was meant to protect the Potawatomi from other tribes who had been moved into this area from their native lands in Illinois and Indiana (Rogers and Meseke 2005). This blockhouse, also known as Camp Kearny, overlooked the Missouri and was situated a short distance up the bluffs in a little subsidiary valley of Indian Creek near Bryant Spring. Built of logs and rough puncheons with gun slits, the blockhouse served as a defensive point. Around this blockhouse the soldiers erected barracks, tents, and their parade grounds (Bloomer 1896). In 1838 two Roman Catholic priests, Fathers Pierre-Jean De Smet and Felix Verreydt, in charge of the mission for the Potawatomi, moved into the buildings left by the soldiers, placed a wooden cross over the barracks, and used the structures for mission work. This mission house, known as St Joseph’s Mission and later as St. Mary’s, was only maintained for three to four years. It was at St. Joseph’s Mission that Father De Smet began his famous series of letters revealing life as an Indian missionary (Chittenden and Richardson 1905; Whittaker 2008a). Fifty years later, the Pierce Street School building may have been built over the old burying ground of the fort and mission (Sabin and Sabin 1900). One sketch of the fort shown in Gue (1903; fig. 14.1, upper right), when it was used by the mission, may not be accurate, and is perhaps based on people ’s memories rather than a direct sketch. It is unlikely that the fort was stockaded when it was used by the military, much less when it was used by missionaries. Babbitt (1916) proposed a simpler plan for the fort (fig. 14.1, lower). The only sketch of the fort while it was still standing is a crude 1839 drawing made by De Smet as part of a large regional map (fig. 14.1 upper left; Wood 2001). According to Bloomer (1896), buildings associated with the blockhouse were still standing in 1885 but were used for storage. Archaeologists have made a few attempts to locate this fort, but no definitive location has yet been identified (Mandel and Winham 1992; Meseke and Rogers 2006; Rogers 2005; Rogers and Meseke 2003; Wedel 1988). Fort Sanford (Sac and Fox Agency), 1842-1843 Fort Sanford was located along the left bank of the Des Moines River about a quarter mile north of a rocky bluff known as Garrison Rock in Wapello County. Troops under the command of Captain James Allen of the First Dragoons were dispatched from Fort Atkinson in September 1842 to pre- [3.144.243.160] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:53 GMT) Fig ur e 14.1. Different reconstructions of the Council Bluffs Blockhouse. Upper left: trace of De Smet’s 1839 sketch of St. Joseph’s Mission, housed in the former...