Tours show potential of upper bluff restoration at Fort Snelling

BY DICK SAUNDERS

A tour of the Upper Post of Fort Snelling confirms the declining condition of the national historic landmark that lies at the crossroads of
Minnesota’s and the nation’s history.

Once the hub of government administration on the Upper Mississippi, the Upper Bluff’s buildings have fallen into varying states of decay since its decommissioning in the late 1940s.

But the estimated 750 who took guided walking tours, on June 14, of the boarded-up administration building, officers’ quarters, barracks and
outbuildings got a glimpse of a possible future for the 141-acres overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers if and
when funds become available.

Under the lead of Hennepin County, the consortium of federal, state and volunteer organizations are pulling together a master plan for stabilization and then future development of the site. To date, Hennepin County has received a $500,000 grant from the 2009 Minnesota Legislature to provide emergency stabilization for two deteriorating post buildings. The county also has applied for $6.5 million in federal stimulus money to restore the post headquarters building and officers’ quarters erected in the late 1880s.

Some of the visionaries hope the long-term restoration outcome will reflect the full range of the fort’s role—as a frontier outpost commanding territory as far west as the Rockies in the 1820s, a training ground for units destined to serve in the Civil War (1861-65), the presence of slaves such as Dred Scott, headquarters for U.S. campaigns against American Indians, a collection point for Midwest soldiers headed for World War I, a processor of more than 300,000 inductees into the military for World War II, and a military intelligence center for Japanese language translation training.

“The idea (of the expanded vision) is to engage people with a resource that is being lost,” said John Anfinson, National Park Service historian in St. Paul. “We are trying to get the public to recognize   this unique place and how important it is to both Minnesota and national history. Sometimes we focus so much on the frontier aspect that we forget this part of it.”