On September 10, 1820, soldiers laid the cornerstone forwhat today is Minnesota’s best-known historic site—HistoricFort Snelling. To commemorate the Fort’s bicentennial in2020, the Minnesota Historical Society is embarking on amajor initiative to reintroduce this dramatic area toMinnesotans and history lovers worldwide.

What is the vision for Historic Fort Snelling? Our visionis that visitors of all ages and backgrounds will come togetherin a park-like public commons overlooking the Mississippi.Historic buildings will be rehabilitated to serve the publicwith visitor amenities and exhibits. People will gather toshare experiences and reflect upon the site’s many stories—stories of American history told nowhere else—placingMinnesota on the map for history and park loversworldwide. Some of the details of the plans:

• Two historic cavalry barracks will be rehabilitated tobring the public a new visitor center and exhibits.

• Paths for the entire area will be enhanced for pedestriansand vehicles, linking destinations like Minnehaha Falls,Coldwater Spring, Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel, andFort Snelling State Park.

• Visitors will be able to meet in a park-like setting thatbuilds upon the beautiful bluff-top vista and includesplaces for reflection and public programming and events.

• The many peoples who have use this site will share theirstories and experiences:The Dakota. To many Dakota people, the confluence of

the rivers is homeland, the birthplace of the world. Later,the fort was site of an internment camp for some 1,600Dakota following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.Westward expansion. The fort represents a site of U.S.expansion into Dakota and Ojibwe homelands.Slavery. Dred and Harriet Scott were among the enslavedpeople who were brought to the fort.Trade. The rivers created a watery highway for tradesince prehistoric times.Military intelligence. During World War II, JapaneseAmericans trained at Fort Snelling to gather intelligencethat helped end the war.

The plan will proceed in two phases, For the first phase inparticular, time is of the essence.

Phase I creates a foundation for the fort’s bicentennial.Phase II finalizes the vision as more and more visitors cometo the site.Phase I—by 2020

MNHS is requesting $34.4 million from the State ofMinnesota and $12 million in private funding to renovateone historic cavalry barracks building to create a new visitorcenter, demolish the current visitor center, enhance roads,create a park-like plaza, and create new exhibits.Phase II — after 2020

The second phase will be announced by 2020 and willinclude renovating the second cavalry barracks, plusadditional landscaping and pathway creation

Friends of Fort SnellingThe Fort Snelling State Park AssociationDedicated to the Preservation of the Historicand Natural Values of the Fort Snelling Area

A New Vision for an Old PlaceFrom press releases

Page 2 Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015

Friends ofFort Snelling

Board of Directors2015 Officers

Jim Miller, PresidentJeffrey Olson, Vice President

Malcolm McDonald, TreasurerLinda Michie, Secretary

Todd Adler, Past President

Board MembersSusanne AdlerJohn Andrews

Jerald Dosch, PhDMatt FluegerCarol Forbes

David GilberstadtRobert Minish

Jonathan H. MorganMary Ann NewmanRichard Nicholson

Stephen OsmanDr. Nelson Rhodus

John RuppRyan Sweere

Honorary DirectorCharles W. Arnason

AdvisorsLarry Peterson,

Fort Snelling State ParkTom Pfannenstiel,

Fort Snelling & Sibley Historic Sites

Copyright ©2015 by The FortSnelling State Park Association.

All rights reserved.

Typesetting and editingby Waltz Printouts Plus

From the PresidentThe level of activity at Fort Snelling has seriously ramped up recently. The followingis an overview and summary of some of the activities; you can read about many ofthem elsewhere in this issue.Pre-bicentennial dinner and annual meeting: We have scheduled a dinner and

annual meeting for Thursday evening, September 10, at the Minnesota HistoricalSociety’s Visitor Center (off Bloomington Road). The evening will begin with areception at 5:00, dinner at 6:00, and program at 7:00. The program will includea brief annual meeting, a description of the Minnesota Historical Society’smaster plan, and Dominium’s plans for the renovation of the Upper Post. Theprogram will conclude by 8:30. Cost of the dinner is $15. Please register usingthe form on the page 6 of this newsletter.

Civil War Reenactment: The end of the Civil War will be commemorated, with atleast two hundred people expected to be in costume, including reenactors, onAugust 15 and 16, Saturday and Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Many ofthe reenactors will arrive at Fort Snelling by steamboat. Huge attendance isanticipated.

Homeless Veteran Housing: Common Bond Communities recently completed therenovation of five historic buildings at Fort Snelling, including former horsestables and equipment barns, into fifty-eight units of housing for Minnesota’shomeless veterans. The $17.2 million project includes $9.3 million from UnitedHealth Group and $5.5 million from bonds through the Minnesota HousingAgency.

Boy Scout Leadership Center: The Northern Star Council of Boy Scouts announcedtheir plans to construct a Leadership Center near their Base Camp at FortSnelling. The building will be about 35,000 square feet and includeadministrative and program spaces The cost of the building is expected to bebetween $10 and $12 million.

Upper Post: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources selected Dominiumto rehabilitate twenty-six vacant buildings on the Upper Post. Negotiations areunderway to lease these properties to Dominium. The properties will beconverted to 190 affordable housing units and the project is expected to cost$100 million.

Minnesota Historical Society’s Visitor Center: MHS has a master plan to demolishthe present Visitor Center and renovate a nearby historic barracks as a newcenter. Total cost of the plan is $46 million; $34 million is to come from statebonding and $12 million from private donations. MSH received $500,000 fromthe Legislature this spring and is now in pre-design.

Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building: Last year the General ServicesAdministration, Great Lakes Region, completed a $154 million restoration of theBishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at One Federal Drive, Fort Snelling. Thebuilding is 688,800 square feet. The contractor was Ryan Companies and thearchitect was Hammel, Green & Abrahamson.

Membership: Our membership year began July 1. If you have not yet renewed yourmembership please continue with us and use the attached membership form onpage 3. Thank you.

— Jim Miller, President

Don’t miss our Annual Meeting on September 10!Use the form on page 6 to register now.

The first couple seasons of a prairierestoration can be ugly.  Between mowingweeds and herbicide treatments, it can bedifficult to imagine what things will looklike in just a few years.  The key is not topanic.

Coldwater Spring has been noexception. The first few years ofmanagement were plagued by multipleinvasive species which we countered withvarious management techniques.   Much tothe dismay of volunteers and biologists, thebest techniques are not always the easiest

ones. Thankfully, the dedication of thesepeople has allowed Coldwater’s prairie,which was seeded in 2012, to flourish.

With an established prairie at hand, ourpark plans to conduct its first controlledburn in 2016. Prairie ecosystems haveevolved to depend on fire, which provides anumber of benefits from controllinginvasive species to releasing nutrients backin to the soil.  While Coldwater Springremains a work in progress, there is plentyto be proud of in the present.  Please stop byto enjoy the view!

Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015 Page 3

Prairie Restoration at Coldwater Springby Neil Smarjesse, Biologist and Land Manager, Coldwater Spring

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African Americans had served during the Revolutionary Warand War of 1812, but were barred from enlistment in theregular army thereafter. But following the September 1862Battle of Antietam, with the Union armies desperate fortroops, federal and recruiting began in earnest. By war’s endsome 179,000 soldiers were serving and a significant portionsaw combat. Around 40,000 died in service, 75% fromdisease.

Minnesota recruits of African American descent sharedonly a brief soldier life at Fort Snelling. At least thirty-fivesuch recruits who gave their place of residence as FortSnelling or Saint Paul mustered into Company F, FirstRegiment Iowa African Infantry, in the fall of 1863. Theirfirst sergeant, 26–year-old Benjamin Franklin, had enlistedSeptember 16 and a large number joined him in the ranksthree days later. Most of these men recently hailed fromMissouri, brought to Fort Snelling in May as teamsters on thesummer expedition into the Dakotas. When the troopsreturned to Fort Snelling on September 12, most of theteamsters were suddenly without a job; the rest were paid offand discharged at the end of October. Economic necessity

and the promise ofenlistment bounties orsubstitute fees may havehastened the enlistment ofthese former teamsters.More likely they wereinspired to fight for theUnion cause after twomonths of field service andcamaraderie alongsideMinnesota volunteers onthe plains. Severalapparently left families atthe Fort as they headed

downriver to the regimental rendezvous at Keokuk. The IowaColored Infantry was reorganized as the Sixtieth Regiment ofUnited States Colored Infantry in 1864 and saw combat inArkansas.

Muster and descriptive rolls show that enlistments ofblack soldiers continued to the end of April 1864, withenlistments starting again in August and continuing to theend of the war. “Recruits continue to come in. There wasabout fifty Negroes brought up yesterday. I expect there willbe a company of them formed here and sent to Dixies land.”1

Minnesota did not field any colored regiments or batteriesitself so patriotic Minnesotans of color enlisted as generalrecruits and were then forwarded to units formed elsewhere.Some went as a group. “Sergt. Major Fred Norwood of theSixth Regiment starts for St. Louis to-day, in charge of thetwenty-two colored recruits from Minnesota. He is to report

his detachment at Benton Barracks, the general rendezvousfor colored recruits in the West. Sergeant Norwood has beenrecommended for a Captain’s commission in a coloredregiment by the Board of Examiners before whom he wascalled some time ago.”2 Many other veteran Minnesotasoldiers, including twenty-three members of the ThirdMinnesota, joined Norwood as officers in new coloredregiments.

The state adjutant general later reported that some 102colored men from Minnesota served as soldiers during thewar. The 1860 state census had counted only 259 Negroes inthe entire state, with another 350 coming in as armyteamsters and families. The adjutant general’s figureaccounted for men who formally mustered into coloredregiments, reporting and crediting their state of enlistment asMinnesota. It does not include the individuals who attached

themselves to Minnesota units as cooks, undercooks, orservants and would certainly have spent time at Fort Snellingwhen those units returned to the state. One of these was anunfortunate Minnesotan named Anderson whoaccompanied the Second Minnesota Infantry to Kentucky asa servant and cook for Lieutenant E. St. Julien Cox. Fearingthat slaveholders might catch him, he fled back home in 1862only to become a victim of Dakota warriors that August atthe Lower Sioux Agency.

African Americans played an interesting and significantin Fort Snelling’s Civil War history. Yet few today are evenaware that they served here, and that many becamepermanent Minnesota residents as a result.1 E. H. Bassett to Dear Father and Mother dated April 3, 1864, E. H.

Bassett letters, Nobles County Historical Society, Worthington, MN.Muster rolls in the Minnesota Historical Society collections show 22African Americans enlisting in April 1864.

2 The Saint Paul Pioneer, April 12, 1864. Benton Barracks Missouri was alarge “Camp of Instruction” just west of the St. Louis fairgrounds.Norwood became a captain in the Sixty-eighth Regiment U.S. ColoredInfantry two weeks after leaving Fort Snelling. At least 15 Minnesotansserved in the regiment, most in Company K.

Page 4 Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015

African American Soldiers at Civil War Fort Snellingby Stephen E. Osman

Recruited in the fall of 1861,Brackett’s Battalion served longerthan any other Minnesota unitduring the Civil War. The regimentwas mustered in at Saint Cloud,Saint Peter, and Fort Snelling. Aftercampaigning in the WesternTheater, the battalion participatedin the Northwestern IndianExpeditions of 1864 and 1865.

Alfred B. Brackett was captainof the Third Company of the

Minnesota Volunteer Cavalry. During the winter of1861–1862, the First, Second, and Third Companies of theMinnesota Volunteer Cavalry were stationed at BentonBarracks near Saint Louis, Missouri until assigned to acavalry regiment called the Curtis Horse. Brackett waspromoted to major of the Third Battalion and was such acharismatic and beloved figure that the battalion becameknown as Brackett’s Battalion. The regiment was assignedgarrison duty at Fort Henry and Fort Heiman in Tennessee.The Curtis Horse did not fight any major battles, instead

serving a supportinge role escorting prisoners, repairingtelegraph lines, and scouting for enemy forces.

In June of 1862, when the Curtis Horse was renamed theFifth Iowa Cavalry, many of the Minnesota soldiersprotested. (I guess the Minnesota / Iowa rivalry goes back along way.) In June and July of 1863, the regiment participatedin the Tullahoma Campaign and then they were stationed at

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, patrolling the northern Alabamaborder. While home on a thirty-day furlough in January 1864(how cruel to send them home in the depths of Minnesotawinter), Brackett and Governor Alexander Ramsey arrangedfor the cavalrymen to be reassigned to the Department of theNorthwest. The veteran soldiers were reorganized into a newbattalion and new recruits were enlisted to fill the ranks.Major Brackett was given command, giving the unit theofficial name “Brackett’s Battalion.” The unit joined GeneralAlfred Sully’s army for the Northwestern Indian Expeditioninto Dakota Territory and, after spending the winter at FortRidgely, the unit was assigned to a second expedition intoDakota Territory. After spending the winter garrisoningwestern posts, the men were finally mustered out in June of1866. The soldiers of Brackett’s Battalion had served a total offour years and nine months.

Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015 Page 5

Brackett’s Battalionby Susanne Adler • Photos courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Aunt MillieAunt Millie is buried in theBrackett Monument plot ofLakewood Cemetery. This does notseem unusual, except that MillieBronson (1770–1885) was a formerslave and was the first AfricanAmerican buried at the Cemetery.Millie Bronson was born in the1770s and during the Civil War shewas a servant of ConfederateGeneral Pierre Gustave Toutant

Beauregard. She was captured at the Battle ofTishomingo by Major Brackett of Brackett’s Battalion.Brackett hired her as his cook and brought her north toMinneapolis while on furlough in January 1864. WhenMajor Brackett went on to serve with the NorthwesternIndian Expeditions, he left her with his cousin, George.George A. Brackett (1836–1921), an early leader ofMinneapolis, was elected Minneapolis mayor in 1873 andwas instrumental in creating Minnehaha Falls Park.Millie Bronson worked as a nanny for the Brackettfamily. The family was said to have looked at Millie moreas a favorite aunt; she was so beloved by her employersthat she was given a marker in the family plot when shedied at the remarkable age of 115 in 1885.

!James Brackett, sonof George A.Brackett, andMillie Bronson

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alfred B. Brackett (1863)

!!!!!!!!!Major Alfred B. Brackett and his horse in camp (1865)

!!!!!!!!Brackett’s Battalion near Sioux City (1865)

In July, the web site “Finance & Commerce” declared therebuilding of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Buildingone of their Top Projects of 2014.

The 688,800 square foot building, located at One FederalDrive at Fort Snelling, is owned by the U. S. General ServicesAdministration, and was renovated with funds from thestimulus packages arising out of the 2008 Great Recession.But one of the stipulations was that the building had toremain operational the entire time. Plus the reconstructionwas supposed to be very environmentally friendly.

Architects Hammel, Green & Abrahamson andcontractor Ryan Companies were up to the task. The totalbudget for the reconstruction was $154 million, but itbrought with it dramatic improvements. The building’s wateruse has decreased by 53%, and efficiency improvements andthe use of geothermal climate control have brought a similar

improvement in energy usage; the improved building hasearned LEED Gold certification for its efficiency.

The builders also worked hard at salvaging buildingmaterials; 89% of the construction waste was recycled orsalvaged.

The architects also worked hard to maintain theappearance of the half-century-old building. The goal is tomake it usable for another half century to come.

The building is named for Henry Benjamin Whipple(1822–1901), the first Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota, whoserved in that post from 1859 until 1901. Along with hisepiscopal duties, he was known for his advocacy of NativeAmerican causes, including trying to secure clemency forthose sentenced to death during the Dakota Conflict of 1862,

You can find out more about Finance & Commerce atfinance-commerce.com.

Page 6 Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015

Finance & Commerce NamesWhipple Building a “Top Project”

Where: MHS Visitor Center, Historic FortSnelling (off Bloomington Road)

Date: September 10, 2015Schedule:  5:00 Reception (cash bar)

6:00 Dinner7:00 Program: Annual meeting,MHS master plan, and Dominium’sredevelopment plans for theUpper Post8:30 Adjourn

Dinner:  Italian buffet catered by Fat Lorenzo’sCost: $15/personRegister by September 1

Please return the registration form with $15/personto:

Friends of Fort Snelling380 Jackson Street, Suite 287Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101

Mark Your Calendars for the Friends’Annual Meeting September 10!

Pre-Bicentennial Dinner

Sign me up for the Friends of FortSnelling Annual Dinner!Total attending: ____ x $15 = $______

Names:

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

If there is a question, contact me at:

______________________________

At last the wait is over.Long-time members of the Friends know that one of the

major unresolved questions of the Fort Snelling area hasbeen what to do with the Upper Post of Fort Snelling and itshistoric buildings, which served our state and nation fromshortly after the Civil War until the Second World War andbeyond. There have been a few small maintenance andrestoration projects, such as the repairs to the historic clockfeatured in our Summer 2014 edition, and parts of the areahave been devoted to recreational and other activities (seethe article on the Boy Scouts elsewhere in this issue).CommonBond Communities and the MinnesotaDepartment of Veterans Affairs are currenly working to turnfive of the buildings into residences for homeless veterans.But, as anyone who has been reading this newsletter for thelast decade will know, most proposals to find a use for thehistoric buildings went nowhere.

That appears to have changed. On Wednesday, July 22, acast of officials headed by Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith,as well as the Department of Natural Resources which iscurrently responsible for the site, announced thatDominium, a housing developer based in Plymouth(www.dominiumapartments.com), has come up with a planto convert the currently-unoccupied buildings intoaffordable housing. The plan is to create one hundred andninety units in the rehabilitated structures.

Dominium has solid experience in this sort of work,having renovated the Pillsbury A-Mill in Minneapolis andthe Schmidt Brewery in Saint Paul.

The cost of rehabilitation is estimated at one hundredmillion dollars, but Dominium believes that about seventy

percent of that can be covered by low-income and historictax credits from the state and federal governments.Dominium itself will contribute five million. The hope is thatmost of the remaining twenty-five percent of the cost willcome from tax increment financing.

As of this writing, a formal agreement had not beenreached — there are many details still to be negotiated,because the land is outside of any municipal jurisdiction andthe DNR was placed under some usage restrictions when theland was placed under their care — but all parties seemsatisfied with the idea and there appears to be enoughfunding to make it work. The governor’s office is activelyinvolved in moving the project forward.

Major infrastructure development is needed, includingrunning sewer lines, so more will be required than just fixingup the buildings. For this reason, it is expected that therehabilitation will take about eighteen months. The currenthope is to work out all the final details by the end of 2016and start construction at the beginning of 2017.

The DNR quotes Lieutenant Governor Smith as saying,“Despite their prominent place in Minnesota history, thesehistoric buildings have fallen into disrepair,. I am proud tosupport this renovation. It will restore an important part ofMinnesota’s history, and transform these buildings to serve anew purpose: to improve the lives of hundreds of Minnesotafamilies.”

Officials from Dominium will be present at the FriendsAnnual Meeting in September to discuss the details of theplan. You can find details on the dinner and a registrationform on page 6 of this newsletter. We hope you’ll be there tofind out more!

Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015 Page 7

Northern Star Council Boy Scouts achieved their twoyear/$15 million capital campaign goal at their 105th AnnualMeeting at Base Camp this past May.

The key project will be a $10–12 million LeadershipCenter, perhaps situated on their six acre Cargill Parkcampus.  Cuningham Group has been retained as the projectarchitect, and a contractor will be selected soon.Construction likely won’t begin until next spring.

This roughly 35,000 square foot building will serveseveral purposes, including leadership training and skillsdevelopment to complement the teambuilding experiences atthe Davis Base Camp.  It will be the council’s headquarters,with administrative offices, retail shop, and meeting rooms inaddition to the leadership development space.

Boy Scouts Achieve Goalby John Andrews, Scout Executive/CEO, Northern Star Council

!

Affordable Housing Comes to Upper Postfrom press releases

Page 8 Friends of Fort Snelling News • Summer 2015

Friends of Fort SnellingThe Fort Snelling State Park Association1078 Colne Street,Saint Paul, MN, 55103-1348www.FortSnelling.org

The dog days of summer are rapidly approaching and I hopeyou are taking advantage of every last ray of the summersun.  We hope a trip to the beach, a naturalist program, or aquick hike around Pike Island is on your list of things to dothis month.  If not, perhaps we’ll see you at the State Fair!Park naturalists will be at the State Fair on Thursday, August27 and Tuesday,  September 1 outside the DNR building.

If you’re visiting Fort Snelling State Park, be sure to keepup to date on the construction on the Highway 5 bridge byvisiting www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy5/.

Watch Fort Snelling State Park’s own web site,www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/fort_snelling/index.html,for news about the swimming beach at Snelling Lake.

Volunteer OpportunitiesThere are several opportunities to help out at the Park,

We’d love to have a couple of extra hands on Friday, August21, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. to help bait hooks and unhook fishfor the “I Can Fish! Fishing Friday” program. We also have

several small projects for which we could use officeassistance and would like to create and install a “mini” multi-cache Geocaching course at the beach for school and privategroups.

Nature Notes: FirefliesIf you’re outside at night and see fireflies enlivening the

darkness, you might be interested to know that fireflies arebeetles that belong to the family Lamypridae; Lampypridaelarvae glow to warn predators that are not a tasty meal.  

Female fireflies lay their fertilized eggs in the leaf litter at,or just below, soil ground level.  The eggs hatch three to fourweeks later. The larvae are predatory and feed on otherinsects.  Larval fireflies will overwinter before pupating andemerging as adults in mid-to-late July. 

The flashing you see from adult fireflies is used to attractmates.  The flying males flash a specific pattern first and flyaround watching for a perched female to flash the samepattern back.

Greetings from Fort Snelling State Park!by Krista Jensen