Fort Koshkonong

Fort Koshkonong. . "Whilst lying here we have thrown up a stockade work flanked by four block houses for the security of our supplies and the accomodation of the sick," wrote General Henry Atkinson of this spot in his army report to General Winfield Scott on July 17, 1832., Atkinson with more than 4000 frontier soldiers had followed Black Hawk up the Rock River in an attempt to end the Black Hawk War. After an unproductive sortie east up Bark River, Atkinson returned and built Fort Koshkonong, later known as Fort Atkinson., The fort, constructed of oak logs eight feet tall, was abandoned when the army pursued and defeated Black Hawk at the Battle of Bad Axe in August 1832. Thus ended the Sauk's last hard fight against continued encroachment of white men onto their tribal lands., In September of 1836, Dwight Foster arrived and erected the first cabin in what is now Fort Atkinson on this site. He and other settlers used logs from the stockade to build cabins, river rafts and for firewood. By 1840 little of the fort remained.