Trading Post Plan

Trading Post Plan. Fort Clark State Historic Site. Shortly after Fort Clark's construction (circa 1830), Prince Maximilian of Wied (Germany) described the post in his journal as "built on the same plan as the other trading posts of the Company. The front and back of the square are forty-four paces in length, the sides, forty-nine paces. The Northern and southern corners have block-houses; the buildings are one-story." He noted a robe press immediately outside the rear gate. A sketch accompanying his description shows the fort as an almost square enclosure with an open courtyard and ranges of buildings constructed against the palisade. , Archeological excavations indicate that Fort Clark was built and enlarged at least twice, probably in the mid-1940s and again in the 1850s. The blockhouses were moved from north and south corners of the palisade to the east and west corners. A small blockhouse excavated at the west corner of the trading post dates to the last decade of the post's occupation. , While archaeologist have found some evidence of building walls and foundations inside the post, little is known about how structure placement, dimension, and use changed as the fort increased in size. Surface features and geophysical surveys suggest Maximilian's plan was slightly modified. Most buildings continued to be built against the palisade but a few were set out from the palisade as short distance. The front gate of the post appears to have remained facing the river. Excavations also suggest a large flagpole once existed in the center of the courtyard, perhaps during the 1830s. It was gone by the late 1850s, replaced by small flagpoles on the blockhouses.