Fort Snelling at Bdote: A Brief History

by Peter DeCarlo

A primer on the complex and contested history of Minnesota’s premier historical site.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American, American History

120 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2017

About the author

Peter J. DeCarlo is a historian and author of Fort Snelling at Bdote and “Loyalty Within Racism: The Segregated Sixteenth Battalion of the Minnesota Home Guard During World War I”. He holds an MA in American history with an emphasis in colonialism, borderlands, Native American studies, and the American West. He works at the Minnesota Historical Society as a research historian on the Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote Project.

Reviews

[Kate]

This is a book that interrogate the foundation of Fort Snelling and stands as a reminder that Minnesota isn't the star of the North that we want it to be. DeCarlo attempts something very difficult- telling the story of the colonization of Minnesota through this fort, which was built on stolen/appropriated land which happens to be a site that is deeply holy and sacred to the Dakota people that were here first. He uses their sources as much as possible and gives deference to their names for places (a shift that can be illustrated by the push to return to the name of Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis). Even setting these place names up as Dakota helps to shift the narrative into a dialogue.

Sure, we don't have any statues to Confederate traitors, but some of the earliest white settler-colonists, 33 officers held slaves illegally at Fort Snelling, including future president Zachary Taylor held two people. The US Army paid officers up to 25% more for these people. It wasn't just officers, Jean-Baptiste Faribault held an enslaved person. So too did Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro, who brought at least three enslaved people to Minnesota. His predecessor Elias T. Langham purchased slaves for officers at the Fort when he went south on business. Henry Hastings Sibley also probably owned a slave (the language is a little unclear in the sources). Many of these men, especially Faribault and Sibley, have plenty of things named after them. Dred and Harriet Scott also lived at Fort Snelling and used this time in their case for their freedom. It was not granted. You may remember that case from school.

But that's not all, folks. DeCarlo spends much of his time with the Dakota. The atrocities committed against these communities are staggering, between land theft, lying, sleeping with native women (not all consensual, I'm sure) and then abandoning them after marrying white women, all the way up to the US-Dakota war of 1862. Of course, the aftermath of that war led to the largest mass execution in US history in Makato, 38+2. And a concentration camp at Fort Snelling, forcing suffering on non-combatants in the war, keeping these people in their holiest site and allowing them to die off from disease and hunger. And after that, driving as many people West as possible, onto reservation.

It's not a pretty history.

But the Dakota are still here, even in the Cities, and they interrogate the history that Fort Snelling tries to sell white people. Because of their resilience, we know there stories. I'm glad that DeCarlo and MNHS are trying to bring these voices into the stories we tell about our state's history, no less fraught than any other state's. I am going to try and engage with these histories, because to forget would be another act of violence.

[Daniel Kleven]

Beautiful; bracing; a wonderful book in every way. Essential reading for anyone who lives in South Minneapolis; a model of how to write a history of a complicated place, a place with competing histories, and at times seemingly incompatible legacies.

Peter J. DeCarlo is a staff historian at the Minnesota Historical Society, and has focused especially on the place he designates "Fort Snelling at Bdote." The book is an accessible historical introduction to this place, beginning with the Dakota people, and telling the story of explorers, fur traders, settlers, colonizers, and the U. S. Army through multiple wars until the fort was decommissioned and became a (contested!) historical site. This book does not shy away from telling the stories of genocide, concentration camps, and the largest mass execution in U. S. history, as well as the stories of enslavement at Fort Snelling that include the famous Dred Scott, but go far beyond him.

The book is filled with pictures, paintings, maps and other illustrations, and includes several sidebars explaining certain terminology. I learned so much about my city and state, and the land and water I live near. As a Minnesotan, I'll be following DeCarlo's work, and checking out his other writings, too.

[Gretchen]

As someone who likes to say she is a history buff, this book reminded me that I have gaping holes in my education, especially in regards my own home state. The title says it is a brief history, and brief it is. It is a good starting point to outline a lot of different stories and conflicts and a spring board for me to find more in-depth reading about so many events and history that I was only tangently aware of. The book also contains beautiful illustrations and photos of the people and places in question, which was also intriguing.

[Tom Darrow]

I got this book in the gift shop after visiting Fort Snelling. It is a very good summary of the complex history of the area. Whereas other books on the topic primarily cover the time when the fort was built and operating as a frontier post, and then stop the narrative in the late 1800s, this book covers its whole history. From native America holy sites, to the forts role in the the genocide of those people. The role that African Americans had in building and staffing the fort, and the training of Japanese American translators during WWII. I also appreciate the section where they talk about present conflicts over the naming of the fort and land ownership.

My one concern is one that is pretty common for this type of local history book in that the writing style is somewhat amateurish and there are a few factual errors that better editors and publishers would have caught.

[Angie]

I picked this up for background while reading an older novel set near Fort Snelling. I found it helpful, though I had to frequently refer to the included map to follow the text, partly because the author refers to places by their Dakota names and partly because although I recognize some of the English names I don’t know the area well enough to keep them straight.

[Melissa]

Great read - gives brief yet dives into some of the complexity of Ft. Snelling's history. Focusing on American Indian perspectives this is a new way of learning about the fort for many people. Must read.

[M]

This book covers the bases of Ft Snelling's history and incorporates original Dakota place names. But those place names are difficult to keep straight. If this book is reprinted, I suggest some kind of table or index to help keep those place names distinct and readily identified.

[Eleanor]

A terrific overview of not only the Fort, but how Minnesota came to be. It is well-written and makes me want to learn more!

[Jo]

This was a fantastic comprehensive overview of the fort. It makes me want to do more research!

[Diane Holland]

Sobering history of the treatment of indigenous people and African Americans by Minnesota

[ElphaReads]

A very comprehensive and well laid out history of Fort Snelling and the stories that aren't associated with the site as much as they should be. I used to work at this site and I worked with the author, and I was so pleased when I got my hands on this book. It's well researched and brings up many good points about the imperialistic undertones of a popular historical site, and the importance of telling stories of slavery, oppression, and the U.S.-Dakota war (and the concentration camp that was built right near the fort). It also talks a lot about the significance of the area not just as a military outpost, but as a place of great importance for the Dakota People long before the U.S. Government came in. Essential reading to be sure, especially for those interested in Minnesota history.