The heart of the U.S. Army is its regular infantry, with lineage going back to 1808. The First Infantry Division is America’s oldest division. In 1918 the soldiers of the 1st won America’s first major battle of WWI at Cantigy. In WWII the 1st . . . — — Map (db m227827) WM
Near South Minnehaha Park Drive, 0.5 miles south of East 54th Street. Reported missing.
The U.S. Army constructed the Coldwater Springhouse and Reservoir between the late 1870s and early 1880s to supply water to an expanding Fort Snelling. Coldwater Spring provided water from 1820 to the 1920s. The spring holds cultural significance to . . . — — Map (db m204889) HM
Near State Highway 55 north of State Highway 5, on the right when traveling north.
An Appreciation
He served with distinction in the Indian wars of the old northwest border and in the War of 1812. In August, 1820, he assumed command of the Fifth United States Infantry at Camp Coldwater on the site of Fort Snelling. Selecting the . . . — — Map (db m227949) HM
A critical moment of the US–Dakota War took place a few steps away from here on November 11, 1865, with the execution of Dakota leaders Sakpedan and Wakan Ozanzan. Drugged and kidnapped from their refuge in Canada, the two leaders faced trial by a . . . — — Map (db m229040) HM
This historical ground was a pivotal place in the development of the Northwest. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Fort Snelling expanded its limestone walls into this area, formerly a part of the U.S. Indian Agency and the location of the . . . — — Map (db m211174) HM
February 16th 1942 Midway, Tulagi, Makin; February 1st 1944 Russell Islands, New Georgia, Bouganville. Guadacanal-In Memory and Honor of the 8,078 men of the four Marine Raider battalions who fought in World War II, 892 of whom died in battle, 2420 . . . — — Map (db m227826) WM
In memoriam to the 3298 men of the Fourth Marine Division of WW II who fell in battle, the 14424 wounded in action and those of us who have joined them. Semper Fidels
Roi Namur Marshall Is. 2-1-1944; Saipan Marianas Is. 6-15-1944; Iwo Jima . . . — — Map (db m227825) WM
Near State Highway 55 north of State Highway 5, on the right when traveling north.
From this point, Beltrami, Italian jurist, scholar and explorer, on July 7, 1823, started his journey into the wilderness of northern Minnesota resulting in his discovery of the source of the Mississippi River August 19, 1823. Through persistence, . . . — — Map (db m227950) HM
Near Tower Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
Bring races together and begin the healing.
—Peter Lengkeek, Tribal Chair, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe; US Marine Corps, 1991-98
Peter Lengkeek, citizen of the Hunkpati Dakota Oyate, has long been an advocate for this people, including . . . — — Map (db m229090) HM
I was born in the states, in Nebraska, and I'm an American just like you.
—Tech. 5th Grade Sue Ogata Kato,
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, US Army, 1943–46
Pvts. Iris Watanabe, Sue Kato, and Bette Nishimura at Building 57, . . . — — Map (db m229209) HM
Near Tower Avenue north of Olson Memorial Highway (Minnesota Route 55/62), on the right when traveling west.
Following the Battle of Wood Lake, 1,600 Dakota, mostly women and children, were forced to march from Camp Release to Fort Snelling. Rather than take up arms, many Dakota had protected white settlers and captives during the war. Arriving on . . . — — Map (db m229258) HM
Near Tower Avenue east of Bloomington Road, on the left when traveling east.
I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America.
—from the volunteer enlistment form of Felix Battles, August 8, 1864
Felix Battles was 20 years old when he enlisted. He was born into slavery near Memphis, . . . — — Map (db m231429) HM
I walked in his footsteps.
—Sgt. Terri Winter, US Army veteran and volunteer, Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad
Sgt. Terri Winter, commander of the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad, 2014
Generations . . . — — Map (db m232069) HM
Near the Minnehaha Trail north of Snelling Lake Road, on the right when traveling north.
River Valleys Take Shape
The two river valleys that meet here were carved thousands of years ago by water flowing from glaciers in the north. Glacial River Warren drained Glacial Lake Agassiz cutting through debris and bedrock to form the . . . — — Map (db m237601) HM
We are willing to pay the price as far as the good need arises.
—Cpl. Maurice Masterson, 151st Field Artillery, 42nd "Rainbow" Division, writing to his father, September 19, 1918
Maurice Masterson at Fort Riley, August 10, . . . — — Map (db m230607) HM
Being in the military is one of the five major educations of my life.
—2nd Lt. Clifford Brunzell, US Army Air Corps, 1943–45
Cliff Brunzell, 1943-45
Courtesy Brunzell family
In 1943, an aspiring musician . . . — — Map (db m229533) HM
Near John A. Johnson Memorial Highway (Route 5) north of Great River Road (Minnesota Route 62), on the right when traveling north.
In 1820 the US government established an Indian agency near the site of Fort Snelling. Located near where Highways 5 and 55 intersect today, the agency was supervised by a civilian agent. The agent's duties were to manage the region's fur trade . . . — — Map (db m229735) HM
Near State Highway 55 north of State Highway 5, on the right when traveling north. Reported permanently removed.
A Sea of Grass
In its early days Fort Snelling was surrounded by a sea of head-high grass. The vast Minnesota prairie was broken only by small groves of trees—willows, cottonwoods, and oaks that grew near creeks, lakes, and marshes. . . . — — Map (db m229951) HM
Near Tower Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
This is Dakota homeland. In 1805, Dakota leaders Cetaŋ Wakuwa Mani, Wakiŋyan Taŋka, Taoyateduta, Wakute, Wapahaśa II, Wapahaśa III, and Joseph Renville met with Lt. Zebulon Pike where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers . . . — — Map (db m232559) HM
For many Native communities, three seeds produce the most important crops: corn, beans, and squash. Together, these seeds make up the Three Sisters and are a cornerstone of Native American agriculture. Native farming employs the technique of . . . — — Map (db m229950) HM
Near Tower Avenue east of Bloomington Road, on the left when traveling east.
Travel through 10,000 years of human history to explore how this area sacred to the Dakota became Minnesota's first National Historic Landmark—Historic Fort Snelling.
The Shape of Water
The Mississippi River was a small tributary 12,000 . . . — — Map (db m231441) HM
Near Tower Avenue, 0.3 miles east of Bloomington Road. Reported permanently removed.
Built in 1904-05 by the U.S. Army, Buildings 17 and 18 were constructed as double barracks to house cavalry troops. By 1911 the cavalry had left Fort Snelling, but the buildings continued to house troops through the early 1940s as the post grew in . . . — — Map (db m229952) HM
The US-Dakota War of 1862 was a violent and divisive period in Minnesota history. Between 1837 and 1858, the Dakota nation signed treaties transferring more than 24 million acres of land to the United States, only to find agreed upon payments . . . — — Map (db m227894) HM
On Minnehaha Park Drive at E. 54th Street, on the left when traveling south on Minnehaha Park Drive.
This area around the confluence, or meeting of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers has been the center of activity in this region for centuries. Generations of people have gathered here to live, work, and recreate.
Native peoples, explorers, . . . — — Map (db m227822) HM
On Snelling Lake Road, on the right when traveling north.
Where Rivers and People Come Together
You are standing on ground that has been a gathering place for rivers, people and legends for thousands of years. Nearby is the confluence, or meeting, of two mighty rivers—the Mississippi and . . . — — Map (db m185834) HM
This memorial honors the sixteen hundred Dakota people, many of them women and children, who were imprisoned here at Fort Snelling in the aftermath of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota Conflict. Frightened, uprooted, and uncertain of the fate of their missing . . . — — Map (db m227845) HM
