Fort Wadsworth 1864 Fort Sisseton 1876

The man the fort was named for was James S. Wadsworth, not James W., and he did not die on April 2. A Geneseo landowner and Free Soil founder, he lost New York's 1862 governor race rather than leave the army to campaign, and was shot in the head at the Wilderness on May 6, 1864 and died on May 8, aged fifty-six. A second Fort Wadsworth, on Staten Island, also carries his name. The back of this marker is a cast plan of the post after Assistant Surgeon Knickerbocker's report of 1874.

What the plaque says

Fort Wadsworth 1864 Fort Sisseton 1876 Major John Clowney, 30th Wisconsin Infantry with Cos. B, E, G and K, Captains Burton, Devlin, Swain & Klatt, started the fort on 1 August 1864, pursuant to orders of General John Pope, Department Commander. They were mostly from the north woods and chopped and whittled out the post. Huge logs, a couple of inches above a dirt embankment, dug from a ditch in front, provided loopholes. Two hewn log blockhouses on the NW and SE corners provided enfilading fire. Major Clowney said he could resist all the redskins in the Northwest. It was named for Gen. James W. Wadsworth, killed in the Battle of the Wilderness, April 2nd, 1864. When Col. Thomas' column arrived after the Battle of Killdeer Mountain, going east on September 28th 1864, the 30th Wisconsin marched with him and Major Robert H. Rose, 2nd Minn. Cavalry remained as commander and to complete the post. It was renamed Ft. Sisseton in 1876. The garrisons after the 2nd Minnesota were 1866, 10th US Infantry; 1870, 20th US Infantry; 1873 17th US Infantry, when the name was changed; 1885 25th US Infantry, (Colored); 1888 3rd US Infantry and Capt. Joe Hale, of the 3rd, was commanding officer when the Fort was abandoned June 1st, 1889. For 25 years it was the military and social center of a large area and all of the original log buildings had been re- placed by stone and frame structures, which in the 1930's were rehabilitated. Erected 1964 by Game, Fish & Parks Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Sisseton Historic State Park — 6.3 mi
  A stone fort on the Coteau des Prairies built to watch the Dakota after 1862, renamed for the Sisseton who scouted for it, restored by the WPA and saved again by a boy who grew up loving it.
• Sica Hollow State Park — 14 mi
  Wooded ravines on the edge of the Coteau, on the Lake Traverse Reservation, where the springs run iron-red and the Dakota tell of a good land gone bad.
• Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center — 21 mi
  A tower on the edge of the Coteau des Prairies honoring the French mapmaker who drew this country in 1838 and 1839 and kept the Dakota names on the map.

More markers nearby

• The Continental Divide — 11 mi
• Frank Farrar: 24th Governor of South Dakota — 12 mi
• Roberts County / Marshall County — 15 mi
• Little Paul Mazakutemani — 17 mi