Fort Ripley was a United States Army outpost on the upper Mississippi River, in mid-central Minnesota from 1848 to 1877. It was situated a few miles from the Indian agencies for the Ho-Chunk (and later with the new Crow Wing Chippewa Agency in the 1850s Ojibwe) in Iowa Territory and then the Minnesota Territory. It was still under construction when the Ho-Chunk arrived in summer 1848. In time, its presence spurred immigration into the area on the eastern (ceded) side of the Mississippi and the trading settlement of Crow Wing developed into a town on an island on the Crow Wing River approximately 6.75 miles (10.86 km) north of the fort when the agency for the Ojibwe was finally established there. Military protection had been stipulated in the 1846 treaty agreement with the Ho-Chunk and the Ojibwe agency was called for in the Ojibwe 1847 treaties at Fond du Lac and Leech Lake. The Ojibwe had been talked into making land available for the Ho-Chunk who had been temporarily removed from Wisconsin to the Neutral Ground of northern Iowa under the assumption that only Indians would live there, not whites. The second cession in 1847 was designated for the Menomonie and the Stockbridge-Oneida and small bands of other "New York Indians" (all of whom who refused to remove from eastern Wisconsin). The military post was initially named Fort Marcy. It then was renamed Fort Gaines and in 1850 was renamed again for distinguished Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley of the War of 1812. It was the second major military reservation established in what would become Minnesota. A report in 1850 by General Pope also called for a third military installation to protect the Red River region of the large Territory that extended to the Missouri River, but Fort Abercrombie would not be built until the late 1850s.
In 1971 Fort Ripley was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its state-level significance in the historical archaeology and military history categories. It was nominated for its status as Minnesota's second major military post and for its role in maintaining peace and enabling pioneer settlement in Central Minnesota.
Camp Ripley, a training facility of the Minnesota National Guard, was established in 1929. It includes the historic site of Fort Ripley and was named in its honor. The nearby city of Fort Ripley, Minnesota, was also named for the old outpost.
Description Fort Ripley typified remote mid-19th century army posts. The buildings were of timber construction, facing a quadrangle. The fort had a partial stockade with the side facing the river completely open except for two of the three block houses. It was on a navigable river and an important trade route. The location was geographically remote to Colonial-American population centers, with Native Americans living in the vicinity and in time it had been traversed by native people and by the French, British, and American fur traders who provisioned their customers via canoes and portages from Lake Superior until the goods were brought by steamboat and lesser watercraft up the Mississippi after the establishment of St. Paul.
History Fort Ripley was built in conjunction with the Ho-Chunk had been moved from northeastern Iowa. Their new reservation east of Long Prairie, Minnesota, necessitated a military post nearby to oversee the reservation and administer annuity payments. The government also hoped that the Ho-Chunk, and the fort, would serve as a buffer between the Santee Dakota and the Chippewa, who were warring. Construction began in November 1848. In April 1849, Company A of the 6th Infantry Regiment arrived from Fort Snelling to take up quarters under the command of Captain John Blair Smith Todd. With them were men of Company D 1st Dragoons commanded by 2nd Lt. John W.T. Gardiner.John W. T. Gardiner, West Point Class of 1840, Vol. 2, p. 49, Bill Thayer's Website, Chicago University, January 2014,
Commanders and officers: General Dana oversaw the 2 years of construction, would become commander of the 1st Minnesota and promoted to brigadier general during the Civil war Capt. John Blair Smith Todd was the first commander.History of Fort Ripley, 1849 to 1859, Rev. George C. Tanner Minnesota Historical Society Collections, 1905, pp. 179–202 Became a Brigadier General. Captain Todd was a first cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln.County Name Origins, Association Of Minnesota Counties webpage, 2020, 123 Charles Ave. St. Paul, MN. Major George W. Patten Was commander of the Fort three times as well as at Fort Ridgely. He lost a hand in combat. Major Hannibal Day Also was commander of Fort Ridgely and would become a brevet Brigadier General. Major William S. McCaskey Was a Civil war hero and would become a major general. Capt. John C. Bates Was a hero of both the Civil and Philippine wars. He became a lieutenant general. Lt. Col. J.J. Abercrombie was commander of Fort Ripley twice and was commanding when the Civil War broke out. He became a Brigadier General.Brigadier General John J. Abercrombie, George W. Cullum's Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, University of Chicago, Bill Thayer, Lt. Timothy J. Sheehan would be promoted to a brevetted Lt. Colonel by the end of the Civil War. He was wounded twice at Fort Ridgely and twice at Nashville. In 1898 he commanded the right flank at the last fight with the Chippewa at Sugar Point where he was wounded 3 times.Obituary for Timothy J. Sheehan, July 11, 1913, Fri, StarTribune Archive, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota Capt. Samuel McLarty post commander sent forward and established Fort Pomme de Terre. Would be brevetted Lt. Colonel by the end of the Civil War. Capt. James L. Fisk Lead his second expedition to the gold fields in Montana Territory from Fort Ripley in 1863.
With occasional exceptions, daily life at Fort Ripley was uneventful. The geographic isolation, summer mosquitoes, and long, cold winters made post life challenging. The Metis oxcart trains traversing the eastern route of the Red River Trails between Selkirk – Fort Garry and the American Fur Trading outpost at Mendota/Fort Snelling(later Saint Paul) passed Fort Ripley. Twice each year, the soldiers trekked to the Long Prairie Agency to supervise government annuity payments of money and goods to the Ho-Chunk/Winnebago.
On July 18, 1850, Congress approved funds to build five military roads in the Minnesota Road Act. Two originated on Point Douglas, Minnesota at the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The first was named the Fort Ripley Military Wagon Road. It went north through Cottage Grove, Newport, St. Paul, St. Anthony Falls to Crow Wing seven miles past Fort Ripley. The distance from St. Paul to Fort Ripley via the wagon road was 150 miles.
In 1853 the Isaac Steven's Railway Survey passed through the Fort Ripley Reservation.Minnesota as seen by Travelers, Isaac I. Stevens and the Pacific Railway Survey of 1853, p. 136, Minnesota History June 1926, Collections, Minnesota Historical Society web site It wouldn't be until the 1880s a rail line was constructed through the former fort's lands. The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad had held the right of way for many years, but it would be the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway that laid the track.
In 1855 C Co. 10th Infantry became the garrison, and the Ho-Chunk were forced to move again—to a reservation in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The land ceded by the Ojibwe in 1847 was now assumed to be available to whites, though the 1857 Panic and its aftermath would discourage settlement for many years. Thinking the post was no longer needed, the army withdrew the garrison in 1857. Almost immediately, disturbances broke out between settlers and some Ojibwe, prompting reactivation of the fort by a Company of the 2nd Infantry. With the outbreak of the Civil War the Federal troops were replaced by the 5th Minnesota. A troop from the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry was part of the Fort late in the war. The Fort was garrisoned by A & G Companies 20th Infantry in April 1969. A Co. was immediately posted forward with G Co remaining until December 1877.The 20th Regiment of Infantry, The Army of the US Historical Sketches of the Line and Staff with Portraits of the Generals in Chief, Captain J.N. Coe, New York Maynard, Merrill and Company, 1896, p. 666, U.S Army Center of Military History website
From 1857 to 1861 Companies G, I, L 2nd Artillery Regiment were variously posted to northern forts Snelling, Ridgely, and Ripley.The 2nd Artillery Regiment, The Army of the US Historical Sketches of the Line and Staff with portraits of the Generals in Chief, New York, Maynard, Merrill and Company, 1896, p. , U.S. Army Center of Military History website
Typical of 19th-century army posts, Fort Ripley's military reservation was huge. It encompassed nearly on the east side of the Mississippi, plus a single square mile on the west side to house the garrison. This configuration was chosen because the Ho-Chunk reservation abutted the west bank of the river and caused consternation for those who wanted the unused east side opened to homesteaders. In 1857 the army agreed to auction the eastern lands, but those bidding colluded to underbid. The Secretary of War annulled the sale. In the meantime, many had begun to build and farm the land. The resulting confusion and ensuing litigation took 20 years to resolve.
Military activity on the post intensified during the American Civil War. In January 1861, C and K Companies of the 2nd Infantry were sent south to fight Confederates,The Second Regiment of Infantry, The Army of the US Historical Sketches of the Line and Staff with Portraits of the Generals in Chief, Lt. M.W. Wright, New York Maynard, Merrill and Company, 1896, p. 414, U.S Army Center of Military History website and were replaced by companies A and E from the 1st MinnesotaFort Ripley the Post and the Reservation, Minnesota Historical Society, F. Paul Prucha, 1947 who in turn were relieved by A and F Companies of 2nd Minnesota.
Minnesota's War 1862-66
When hostilities broke at Fort Ridgely the commander of Fort Ripley was Captain Francis Hall, Company B 5th Minnesota, who was home on leave. The commanding officer at Fort Ridgely had requested assistance at the upper reservation. 1st Lt. Timothy J. Sheehan and 50 men of C Company had gone to the Upper Sioux Agency leaving a small garrison at Ripley under Lt. Frank B. Fobes. Sheehan had with him two of Ripley's four 12 pound howitzers.History of the Sioux War and massacres of 1862 and 1863.: by Isaac V. D. Heard, Making Of America, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 2005, p.47 His troop arrived the first week of August at the Upper Sioux Agency and were quickly dispatched to bring in the renegade Chief Inkpaduta.