Fort Abraham Lincoln

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is located seven miles (11 km) south of Mandan, North Dakota. The park is home to On-A-Slant Indian Village, the blockhouses and the Custer house. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the deed to the land to the state in 1907 as Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

History

The Mandan Indian tribe settled on the Heart River in 1575. They built earthlodges and thrived in their community by hunting bison and growing a number of crops. Two hundred years later, an outbreak of smallpox caused the Mandan population to significantly decrease. The Mandan resettled, and in the 1870’s the area along the west banks of the Missouri, the same location where the Mandan tribe had established their village, a military post was built in June 1872 by two companies of the 6th U.S. Infantry as Fort McKeen, opposite Bismarck, Dakota Territory.

The three-company infantry post's name was changed to Fort Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1872, and expanded to the south to include a cavalry post accommodating six companies. Among the 78 permanent wooden structures at Fort Lincoln were a post office, telegraph office, barracks for nine companies, seven officer’s quarters, six cavalry stables, a guardhouse, granary, quartermaster storehouse, bakery, hospital, laundress quarters, and log scouts' quarters. Water was supplied to the fort by hauling it from Missouri River in wagons, while wood was supplied by contract.

By 1873, the 7th Cavalry moved into the fort to ensure the expansion of the Northern Pacific Railway. The first post commander of the expanded fort was Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, who held the position until his death in 1876.

In 1876, the Army was sent to battle the Sioux at Little Big Horn, where they were to push the non-treaty Indians back to their particular reservations. Custer along with about half of his troops did not return to Fort Lincoln. The Fort was abandoned in 1891 after the completion of the railroad to Montana in 1883. A year after the fort was abandoned; local residents disassembled the fort for its nails and wood. Later, the federal Conservation Corps restored the blockhouses and earthlodges. The Custer House was not rebuilt until 1989. The house was built as it stood in 1875.

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a visitor center, shelters, and roads. They also reconstructed military blockhouses and placed cornerstones to mark where fort buildings once stood, as well as replicating Mandan earthen lodges. Additional reproductions have since been built on the site creating a replica Mandan village, called "On-a-Slant Village." A reproduction of Custer's house was built in the park in 1989, in time for the state of North Dakota's centennial. The park also includes a campground and picnic area.

On-A-Slant Indian Village

On-A-Slant Indian Village was established in 1575. There were approximately nine other villages that settled on the Heart River, the Mandan tribe was located on the southern part of the river. The village consisted of 75 to 85 earthlodges with a population of about 1,000. On-A-Slant was located near the Heart River, and was named so because the village was built on a slope near the Missouri River. The women of the Mandan tribe were responsible for building theearthlodges which were made from a covering of willow, grass and earth held up by the support of cottonwood logs. The top center of the earthlodge contained a hole designed for light and a smokehole for the fire pit. The earthlodges were placed close together and usually housed about ten members of the immediate and extended family. The Mandan tribe, unlike most Indian tribes, survived on farming and hunting. The village became the center of trading because the Mandan were known for their ability to make pottery and prepare animal skins. In 1871, a smallpox epidemic infected the Mandan tribe, killing off a majority of the villagers. The remaining tribe members moved north to joining the Hidatsa Indians along the Knife River.

Custer House

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his wife Libby lived on Fort Abraham Lincoln from 1873 until Custer died at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in the spring of 1876. Their first home was built in the summer of 1873, but burned down in February 1874. Fort Abraham Lincoln offers tours of Custer's last house and one of the barracks housing the 650 troops stationed there.

Five Nations Arts

Five Nations Arts is part of the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to maintaining and promoting the heritage and historic perspectives of Fort Lincoln and other historic sites in North Dakota. Five Nations Arts is a local art store specializing in regional Native American art, showcasing the five Indian nations of the Northern Plains. They offer paintings, jewelry, sculptures, dream catchers and beadwork created by 200 local artists. Painted buffalo skins and local sewn quilts are offered. Music from national and local musicians is also available along with locally produced soaps made from buffalo tallow and natural local herbs, such as cedar, rose, sage, and sweet grass. Five Nations Arts is established in the former Northern Pacific Railway station, on Main Street in Mandan. "Five Nations" refers to the five federally-recognized tribes in North Dakota: the Anishinaabe (aka Chippewa and Métis of Turtle Mountain) Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (aka the Three Affiliated Tribes), and the Lakota (Spirit Lake, Standing Rock and Lake Traverse Indian Reservations), or the five reservations in North Dakota: Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (Three Affiliated Tribes), Spirit Lake Indian Reservation (Lakota), Standing Rock Indian Reservation (Lakota), Lake Traverse Indian Reservation (Lakota), and Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation (Anishinaabe and Métis).

Recreation

Fort Lincoln Park offers living history tours of the Custer House every half hour. The tour is forty minutes long and takes you back to the 1875 when Custer and his wife were living on Fort Abraham Lincoln. The guides are dress in full soldier uniform and the maids throughout the house are also dress in full maids uniform from 1875. Interpretive tours of On-A-Slant Indian Village and the earthlodges are also offered every half hour and are fifty minutes long. Along with the interpretive and living history tours of the General George Custer House and On-A-Slant Indian Village, there is a historical museum about the On-A-Slant Village and other information about Fort Lincoln State Park. Visitors are welcome walk through the cavalry barracks and the blockhouses. There are 95 campsites, two sleeping cabins, and picnic shelters. Horseback tours, hiking, fishing, and playgrounds are also located on the convert|1006|acre|km2|0 of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

Notable residents

*Frank L. Anders - Medal of Honor recipient and notable businessman who was born here in 1877

References

*cite web | last =Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Fort Lincoln | work = | publisher = | date =March 21, 2007 | url =http://www.fortlincoln.com | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-05-03
*cite web | last =ND-Direct | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota | work = | publisher = | date =May 3, 2007 | url =http://www.nd-direct.com/travel/fort-abraham-lincoln.php | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-05-03
*cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =ND Story Ideas | work = | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.ndtourism.com/data/photos/ND_story_ideas_08.pdf | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-05-09
*cite web | last =ND Parks | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Fort Lincoln History | work = | publisher = | date = | url =http://www.ndparks.com/Parks/Lincoln/History.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-05-09

Further reading

*Barnes, Jeff. "Forts of the Northern Plains: Guide to Historic Military Posts of the Plains Indian Wars". Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.fortlincoln.com/Fort%20Abraham%20Lincoln.htm Fort Abraham Lincoln website]
* [http://www.ndparks.com/Parks/FLSP.htm Fort Abraham Lincoln] - ndparks.com
* [http://www.ndparks.com/Parks/Lincoln/History.htm History of Fort Abraham Lincoln] - ndparks.com
* [http://www.realnd.com/fortlincolnmap.htm Virtual Tour of Fort Abraham Lincoln]
*Map links: coord|46|45|51|N|100|50|59|W|