Old Fort Snelling | Page 8

and soon began the erection of Fort Howard.[53]
But the government was not content with these movements. In a report dated December 22, 1817, the Secretary of War, J. C. Calhoun, wrote to the House of Representatives that "a board of the most skilful officers in our service has been constituted to examine the whole line of our frontier, and to determine on the position and extent of works that may be necessary to the defence of the country."[54] Plans had already been made. During the summer of 1817 Major Stephen H. Long, a topographical engineer in the United States Army, had made a journey to the Falls of St. Anthony in a six-oared skiff and had approved the position at the mouth of the Minnesota River as a location for a fort.[55] Other plans were soon announced. In the spring of 1818 The Washington City Gazette stated that a fort would be built on the Missouri River at the mouth of the Yellowstone River;[56] and a second report of the Secretary of War on December 11, 1818, indicated that the site at the mouth of the Minnesota would soon be occupied.[57]
On the tenth of February, 1819, the War Department ordered the Fifth Infantry to concentrate at Detroit, after which it would be transported across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, up the Fox River, and down the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien, where a part would garrison Fort Crawford, a part would proceed to Fort Armstrong, and the remainder would ascend the Mississippi and near the Falls of St. Anthony erect a post which would be the headquarters of the regiment.[58] This movement was closely associated with that on the Missouri River called the Yellowstone Expedition. Both movements were part of one system--a comprehensive attempt to possess the northwestern frontier. The thoroughness of the plan is shown by the program outlined for the troops for the year 1820: three forts were to be built on the Missouri River; the navigation of that river was to be improved; roads were to be opened between the two diverging lines of posts (those on the Missouri and those on the Mississippi); and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers were to be connected by a canal. Thus the transportation of supplies would be facilitated, and in case of hostilities the forts could co?perate in the military operations.[59]
The western part of this general movement was a failure. Indeed, the only result was the construction of a post at the point then known as Council Bluff (now Fort Calhoun, Nebraska), which after an existence of eight years was abandoned. Congress, disgusted with the management of the undertaking, refused to vote the funds necessary for the complete fulfillment of the project.[60] Accordingly, no permanent military post existed upon the upper Missouri until 1855, when the United States government purchased from the American Fur Company their station called Fort Pierre and transformed it into a military establishment.[61] The failure of the Yellowstone Expedition made more difficult the work of Fort Snelling. The range of its influence extended to the Missouri, and for forty years it was of more importance than even its originators had planned.
The Fifth Infantry, to which the difficult task of establishing a fort at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers was assigned was stationed at various places. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who was the commanding officer of the regiment, had been located at Prairie du Chien as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.[62] Lieutenant Nathan Clark was living at Hartford, Connecticut.[63] But by May 14th the main part of the regiment was ready to leave Detroit. Schooners brought them through Lake Huron, the Straits of Mackinac, and across Lake Michigan to Fort Howard on Green Bay. Captain Whistler of the Third United States Infantry, then stationed at this post, had prepared bateaux for the use of the troops, and on June 7th the ascent of the Fox River was commenced.[64] The Winnebago chief "Four Legs", whose village was at the outlet of Lake Winnebago, had the custom of exacting tribute from travellers using the Fox-Wisconsin route. When the troops of the Fifth Infantry came to the site, "Four Legs" sent the message, "The Lake is locked." Whereupon Colonel Leavenworth, showing the messenger his rifle, replied: "tell him, that this is the key, and I shall unlock it and go on." Upon receiving this belligerent reply, the chief allowed the troops to pass; and finally on June 30th the bateaux were moored near Fort Crawford and Prairie du Chien.[65]
At Fort Crawford there was a tedious wait. Provisions, ordnance, ammunition, and recruits were expected from St. Louis. On July 5th Major Thomas Forsyth arrived from St. Louis. He had been ordered by the War Department to bring two thousand dollars worth of goods to the Sioux Indians in