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Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)
Encyclopedia
Fort Atkinson was the first United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
post to be established west of the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in the unorganized region of the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located just east of present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska
Fort Calhoun, Nebraska
Fort Calhoun is a city in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 856 at the 2000 census.Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station is built on...
, the fort was erected in 1819 and abandoned in 1827. The site is now known as Fort Atkinson State Historical Park and is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. A replica fort was constructed by the state at the site during the 1980s-1990s.
The post, which included soldiers, traders, trappers, and other frontier people, has been credited by the Nebraska State Legislature as the first town in Nebraska. Founded almost 30 years before the creation of the Nebraska Territory
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...
, Fort Atkinson had more than 1,000 residents. It included a brickyard, lime kiln, stone quarry, grist mill, saw mill, and cooper shop.
Lewis and Clark
The site that would become Fort Atkinson was the Council Bluff (not to be confused with Council Bluffs, IowaCouncil Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
, 20 miles to the south) used for an 1804 council between the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
and members of the Oto
Otoe tribe
The Otoe or Oto are a Native American people. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa and Missouri tribes.-History:...
and Missouria
Missouri tribe
The Missouria or Missouri are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of United States before European contact. The tribe belongs to the Chiwere division of the Siouan language family, together with the Iowa and Otoe...
Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes. William Clark recommended the high bluff overlooking the Missouri River to the United States government as a suitable location to build a fort.
Council Bluff: frontier post
Fifteen years later, in 1819, President James MonroeJames Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
dispatched a military expedition (the Yellowstone Expedition
Yellowstone Expedition
The Yellowstone Expedition was a frontier expedition authorized in 1818 by United States Secretary of War John C. Calhoun to establish a military fort or outpost near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota at the mouth of the Yellowstone River...
, led by Colonel Henry Atkinson) to establish a series of forts along the Missouri. These forts were to support the American fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
and counteract British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
influence on the northern plains. The 6th US Infantry and 1st Rifle Regiments made up the military portion of the expedition, which arrived at the Council Bluff site on September 19. It was located near Fort Lisa and Cabanne's Trading Post
Cabanne's Trading Post
Cabanne's Trading Post was established in 1822 by the American Fur Company as Fort Robidoux near present-day Dodge Park in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was named for influential fur trapper Joseph Robidoux...
, private fur trading establishments operated by major traders who were based in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
The expedition stopped to build Cantonment Missouri, a winter camp along the river bottom below the bluffs. Abandoning plans to establish more forts upstream, the soldiers settled in for winter. The winter of 1819-20 was very harsh; a shortfall of government contractors left the garrison without sufficient supplies. The soldiers suffered widespread scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
(due to poor nutrition and lack of vitamin C
Vitamin C
Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...
), which claimed the lives of over 200 of the 1,120 men that first winter. Estimates of the civilian deaths is possibly as high as double the military dead; no records were kept of their losses.
In the spring of 1820, the Missouri River flooded Cantonment Missouri. The soldiers built a permanent camp atop Council Bluff, and renamed it Fort Atkinson. Originally, the fort was to be named "Fort Calhoun" in honor of the Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
, but its first commander was honored. During the 1820s, soldiers took meteorological observations as research for the government.
Arikara
Arikara are a group of Native Americans in North Dakota...
tribe attacked a trading post along the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Soldiers from the fort retaliated by attacking an Arikara village. Although no American soldiers died in the brief skirmish, seven soldiers drowned on the way upriver when their keelboat
Keelboat
Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...
struck a log. They were counted as the first United States' casualties in the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
on the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
.
In 1827, the Army abandoned the fort at Council Bluff and reassigned its personnel to other locations.
Re-activation of Fort Atkinson
When the MormonsMormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
established Cutler's Park
Cutler's Park
Cutler's Park was briefly the headquarter camp of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established by 2500 members as they were making their way westward to the Rocky Mountains...
in the North Omaha area in 1846, some of their food for the harsh winter was provided from old provisions they found at the fort. By the 1850s, when widespread European-American settlement began in the area, little remained of the fort.
In the 1950s, Nebraska State Historical Society
Nebraska State Historical Society
The Nebraska State Historical Society is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information .....
archeological crews determined the locations of buildings at the Fort Atkinson site. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is a public agency of the government of the State of Nebraska in the United States. The commission is charged with stewardship of the state's fish, wildlife, state park, and outdoor recreation resources. The commission is also charged with issuing of state...
gained title to the site in 1971. During the 1980s and 1990s, it reconstructed the fort. Today, Fort Atkinson is a Nebraska state historical park, which includes a military museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. It was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
Living history
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
demonstrations take place on the first weekend of each month from May to October. In addition to people demonstrating craft work and the duties of the Indian agent, military re-enactors interpret the activities of the Sixth Regiment of United States Infantry and First Regiment of United States Riflemen.
See also
- Washington County Historical AssociationWashington County Historical AssociationThe Washington County Historical Association, or WCHA, is located in the Washington County Historical Museum at 102 North 14th Street in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, NebraskaNational Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, NebraskaThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Nebraska. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Nebraska, United States...
External links
- Fort Atkinson State Historical Park
- Friends of Fort Atkinson
- History of Fort Atkinson
- Nebraska State Historical Society - Fort Atkinson
- Fort Atkinson records, Nebraska State Historical SocietyNebraska State Historical SocietyThe Nebraska State Historical Society is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information .....