Editing Fort Snelling (section)

{{Short description|Historic fort in Minnesota, US}}
{{About|the historic military fortification|a unit of the Minnesota state park system|Fort Snelling State Park|other uses|Fort Snelling (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{citation style|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Fort Snelling
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = FortSnellingTower.jpg
| caption = Fort Snelling's round tower
| location = [[Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory]], [[Minnesota]]
| nearest_city = Bordering [[Minneapolis]], [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], [[Mendota, Minnesota|Mendota]] and [[Mendota Heights]].
| area = 
| coordinates = {{coord|44|53|34|N|93|10|50|W|region:US-MN_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = USA Minnesota
| built = 1819
| architect = Colonel [[Josiah Snelling]]
| designated_nrhp_type = 19 December 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=278&ResourceType=District|title=Fort Snelling|access-date=2007-10-03|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313124510/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=278&ResourceType=District|archive-date=2008-03-13}}</ref>
| added = 15 October 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2006a}}</ref>
| website = [http://www.historicfortsnelling.org Historic Fort Snelling]
| refnum = 66000401
| designated_other1_name = Minnesota State Register of Historic Places
}}
'''Fort Snelling''' is a former military fortification and [[National Historic Landmark]] in the U.S. state of [[Minnesota]] on the bluffs overlooking the [[confluence]] of the [[Minnesota River|Minnesota]] and [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] Rivers. The military site was initially named '''Fort Saint Anthony''', but it was renamed Fort Snelling once its construction was completed in 1825.

Before the [[American Civil War]], the U.S. Army supported slavery at the fort by allowing its soldiers to bring their personal enslaved people. These included African Americans [[Dred Scott]] and [[Harriet Robinson Scott]], who lived at the fort in the 1830s. In the 1840s, the Scotts sued for their freedom, arguing that having lived in "free territory" made them free, leading to the landmark [[United States Supreme Court]] case ''[[Dred Scott v. Sandford]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dred and Harriet Scott in Minnesota {{!}} MNopedia |url=https://www.mnopedia.org/event/dred-and-harriet-scott-minnesota |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.mnopedia.org}}</ref> Slavery ended at the fort just before Minnesota statehood in 1858.

The fort served as the primary center for U.S. government forces during the [[Dakota War of 1862]]. It also was the site of the [[concentration camp]]<ref>[https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/us-dakota-war The US-Dakota War of 1862, Historic Fort Snelling, MNHS]</ref> where [[Dakota people|eastern Dakota]] and [[Ho-Chunk]] [[non-combatants]] awaited [[riverboat]] transport in their forced removal from Minnesota when hostilities ceased. The fort served as a recruiting station during the Civil War, [[Spanish–American War]], and both World Wars before being decommissioned a second time in 1946. It then fell into a state of disrepair until the lower post was restored to its original appearance in 1965. At that time, all that remained of the original lower post were the round and hexagonal towers. Many of the important buildings of the upper post remain today with some still in disrepair.

The historic fort is in the unorganized territory of [[Fort Snelling unorganized territory|Fort Snelling]] within [[Hennepin County]], bordering [[Ramsey County, Minnesota|Ramsey]] and [[Dakota County, Minnesota|Dakota]] counties.

There are now multiple government agencies that own portions of the former fort with the [[Minnesota Historical Society]] administering the '''Historic Fort Snelling''' site. The [[Minnesota Department of Natural Resources]] administers [[Fort Snelling State Park]] at the bottom of the bluff. Fort Snelling once encompassed the park's land. It has been cited as a "National Treasure" by the [[National Trust for Historic Preservation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/04/20/historic-fort-snelling-named-national-treasure |title=Historic Fort Snelling named 'national treasure' |last=Feshir |first=Riham |date=April 20, 2016 |website=MPR News |publisher=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |access-date=April 20, 2016}}</ref> The historic fort is in the [[Mississippi National River and Recreation Area]], a [[National Park Service]] unit.