Fort Dodge

Fort Dodge. Established 1850. Fort Clarke was officially established August 29, 1850, when Company E of the 6th Infantry arrived at this spot from Fort Snelling, Minnesota. They came by way of Muscatine - Camp Morengo - and "Indian Town" (Tama). Settlers down river from the "Lizard Forks" had petitioned the government for protection from bands of Indians roaming this area. , Major Samuel Woods was Commandant with Major Lewis A. Armistead (of Gettysburg fame) second in command. There were usually between 60 and 70 soldiers garrisoned at the fort. Major Woods kept about a third of them on patrol at any one time. The troops were kept busy constructing buildings (21 in all), hunting game and tending to crops and livestock. The monotony of military post life was broken by an active theater group. , In June of 1851 the post name was changed to Fort Dodge in honor of General Henry Dodge and his son Augustus Caesar Dodge. , Major Woods and his men were charged with policing an area from the Cedar River in the east to the Missouri River in the west; the Boone River Fork in the south and north to the Minnesota border. , The map above is from the original plat of the town of Fort Dodge drawn by founder Major William Williams in 1854. The soldiers in the drawing (done by William Williams in 1852) are parading near what later became the City Square. A line of buildings formed the fort along the north side of what was originally named Williams Street., William Williams named this watercolor "James Trading with the Indians". Williams' son James is shown trading with Umpashota (Smoky Day). Wahkonsa (Umpashota's son) is sitting next to his little sister while their mother prepares a meal. James' many pets all had names: Smoke the greyhound - Billy the pole climbing raccoon - Prairie Flower the fawn, Design By: Alan Foster Nelson , You are standing very near where the soldiers' barracks were built. It was the first building constructed at the fort. After the troops left it became a public house - the Wahkonsa House, then the Wahkonsa Inn and the first Wahkonsa Hotel. It is shown here in its later years., Major William Williams arrived with the 6th Infantry in 1850 as a civilian sutler (store keeper). He was born December 6, 1796, in Pennsylvania where he had earned the rank "Major" in the state militia. He purchased the abandoned fort property from the State of Iowa, surveyed and platted the town - he was instrumental in bringing a land office here and in moving the county seat from Homer. , Two governors authorized him to tend to Indian affairs in Northwest and North-Central Iowa. , Major Williams was unanimously elected to lead the Spirit Lake Massacre Relief Expedition in 1857. He was 60 years old at the time. , The first Postmaster and Mayor of Fort Dodge, Williams was a community leader and promoter of the town he founded until the day he died - February 26, 1874., Map: , Theater was at the "foot" of Williams Street , Four cabins for soldiers with families and wives who were laundresses , Not Known , Commissary , Carpenter Shop, Laundry , Quartermaster and Sergeant's Office , Blacksmith Coal House , Hospital , Temperance Hall and Church , Bake House , Barracks (You Are Here) , Guard House , Adjudant and Company Office , Surgeon , Lt. James L. Corley, Lt. John Tubbs , Major Lewis A. Armistead , Major Samuel Woods (Commandant) , William Williams (Civilian Sutler) , Civilian Blacksmith House , Major William Williams' Sutler Store