The Blockhouses

The Blockhouses. Fort Clark State Historic Site. Fort Clark's most prominent structural features, the enclosure or "palisade" and projecting blockhouses, were built to defend its occupants from attack and the Company's trade goods from theft. Curiously, historic documents and archaeological excavations indicate the post's blockhouses changed in number and location through time. An 1833 fort plan shows blockhouses on north and south corners while an 1847 illustration places them at east and west corners. An 1859 drawing depicts a two-story blockhouse on the east corner but a sketch made one year later show the fort had not blockhouse on the west corner. What was the missing west blockhouse like and when was it removed? , Archaeological excavations at the fort's west corner uncovered a square configuration of small rocks at the location predicted for the missing blockhouse. The stone's arrangement suggested a structure about 14 ft (4.4 m) on a side. If 12 inch timbers were used to build the walls, the interior space would have been about 12 ft (3.7 m) square. A 6 ft (1.8 m) x 3ft (1.0 m) rectangle of stones inside the north corner suggested the location for a stairway to a second level. , The stone "foundation" probably was not intended to support a massive blockhouse. More likely, they were used to level its timber foundation before the blockhouse was built. Surprisingly, it was not constructed as part of the palisade but was raised next to it. Once the blockhouse was built, the palisade's pickets were removed from in front of its 2 1/2 ft (0.78 m) wide doorway. Pickets were then put in the ground on each side of the door to create a narrow walled entryway from the fort. This blockhouse was probably built at the same time as the last (mid-to-late) 1850s) fort expansion but torn down by 1860. . This historical marker was erected by State Historical Society of North Dakota. It is Near Stanton in Mercer County North Dakota