top of page
The People and Stories of Fort Snelling
Scroll down to learn more about the Native Peoples, The Fur Trade, Soldiers and Veterans, Enslaved People and Immigrant stories. Bonus: Educators, Students, and Historians discuss what Fort Snelling has meant to them in the Minnesota Historical Society's Video Series: What Fort Snelling Means to Me
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Jan 4, 20232 min read
#13 in Best Things To Do in the Twin Cities in 2023
Visit a local treasure... Historic Fort Snelling January 2nd 2023 Established in the early 19th century as a frontier outpost, Fort...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Sep 28, 20204 min read
Abigail Hunt Snelling was more than a helpmate at the early years of the fort bearing her name
By Curt Brown Special to the Star Tribune View original post A look at the pioneer woman, who arrived at the confluence of the Minnesota...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 7, 20201 min read
The Minnesota Daughters of the American Revolution is exciting to be a part of the bi-centennial
In celebration of Fort Snelling's Bicentennial, MNSSDAR is joining with the Friends of Fort Snelling and MHHS share the Fort's stories
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Sep 10, 20194 min read
Book Release: Fort Snelling and the Civil War
One hundred fifty years ago, Minnesota offered the first volunteers to defend the Union in the fight against slavery.
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Aug 30, 20195 min read
Slavery made its mark here in Minnesota, too
Dred Scott sued for his freedom after living here, and the Minnesota Constitution outlawed slavery before the 13th amendment. Two...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Aug 27, 20194 min read
The oldest murder mystery in Minnesota begins at Fort Snelling
The oldest murder mystery in Minnesota begins at Fort Snelling in 1838. Edward Phalen was a 27-year-old soldier stationed at the fort. An...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Jul 8, 20191 min read
Pearl Harbor Sailor, Recently Identified, To Be Interred at Fort Snelling
By John Croman @ Kare 11 MINNEAPOLIS - The remains of a Pearl Harbor sailor from Indiana, who was killed in action aboard the USS...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Jun 17, 20192 min read
Fort Snelling exhibit traces the history of secret language school
By Patricia Emerson @ Minn Historical Society A new photo exhibit at Historic Fort Snelling in Minneapolis invites viewers back in...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Jun 13, 20194 min read
Long a Window into Minnesota’s Frontier Days… Fort Snelling has more Stories to Tell
By Patricia Emerson @ Minn Historical Society Not much has changed at Historic Fort Snelling in the past 40 years. The thousands of...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Jun 12, 20191 min read
See Fort Snelling in Virtual Reality thanks to U of M Lab and the Historical Society
By Patricia Emerson @ Minn Historical Society FORT SNELLING, Minn. (FOX 9) – A previously unseen part of Fort Snelling will be...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 23, 20194 min read
Why Save Coldwater Spring
By Susu Jeffrey @ Friends of Coldspring I was tapping my way through one of those tiresome online enviro surveys designed to boost, in...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 21, 20192 min read
Fort Snelling to Honor the “Vikings”, a Minnesota-based WWII Ski Battalion
By Cole Heath @ Fox 9 News ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – The Vikings, a Minnesota-based infantry battalion that fought the Nazis during...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 21, 20193 min read
Dakota aim to reclaim Fort Snelling and its difficult history
By Cody Nelson @ MPR News For the Dakota people, May 4th marks a dark date in history. It’s when, in 1863, Dakota people held at Fort...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 21, 20192 min read
Minnesota Historical Society expands its work with veterans at historic Fort Snelling
By Staff @ Hometown Focus ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is working to expand its engagement with veterans and...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 21, 20193 min read
Counterpoint: Fort Snelling History Offers Name Insight
By Gary Brueggemann @ Star Tribune As an old Minnesota historian, I am exasperated by the local media’s slanted and superficial...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20191 min read
Coming Home From War: Fort Snelling in 1865
The final weeks of the American Civil War were as dramatic as Minnesotans have ever experienced. Patricia Bauer describes the final days...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20193 min read
Fort Snelling: An Important Point of Minnesota History
By Amy Rea @ Life in Minnesota On a bluff overlooking where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers meet is Fort Snelling. Its...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20194 min read
The Ojibwe People
By David Henry @ Minnesota Historical Society The ancestors of the Ojibwe lived throughout the northeastern part of North America and...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20196 min read
Enslaved African Americans and the Fight for Freedom
By David Henry @ Minnesota Historical Society By the time Fort Snelling was built in the 1820s, slavery was a reality in the Northwest...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20193 min read
The Story of the US Indian Agency
By David Henry @ Minnesota Historical Society Along with building Fort Snelling at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20191 min read
C-SPAN Video Tour – Saint Paul: Historic Fort Snelling
By Matt Cassady Program Specialist Visit Historic Fort Snelling. This National Historic Landmark built in the early 1820s, teaches a...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20195 min read
Dred Scott is Fort Snelling’s best-known slave, but there were others
By Nick Woltman @ Pioneer Press In 1846, an enslaved African-American couple, who met and married at Fort Snelling, sued the woman who...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
May 10, 20193 min read
It’s time for truth-telling at Fort Snelling
By Mary Bakerman @ MinnPost The bonding bill at the Minnesota Legislature includes a $34 million request from the Minnesota Historical...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Apr 30, 20195 min read
The Dakota People
Staff @ The Minnesota Historical Society Dakota people are comprised of four groups: The Bdewakantunwan (Mdewakanton), Wahpetunwan...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Apr 25, 20193 min read
200 years later, Fort Snelling looks for a makeover
Tom Weber @MPR News Minnesota Historical Society officials will ask lawmakers to approve more than $30 million in next year’s bonding...
0 comments
Bruce A Peterson, Editor
Apr 12, 20192 min read
Josiah Snelling Arrives in 1820
By Nick Woltman @ Pioneer Press The first troops arrived in 1819 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth and began...
0 comments
bottom of page