Very few inhabited houses exist in the town of Fort Rice. This picture of the school and an outhouse illustrates the general appearance of the town. The only place I recall that could be termed a business was the junkyard located right along Highway 1806, as we turned in. Dead as the town is, it once held a place of prominence. Fort Rice came into existence as a fort in July, 1864 when General Sully passed through on his expedition to punish Indians who resisted the westward push and place them on reservations. It was named for a Civil War general killed in battle.
The ground hadn't dried enough yet at the actual site of the fort to allow us to drive in, but a bit of searching turns up some facts of how it looked. Sully ordered his men, several companies of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry, to build a stockade of cottonwood logs measuring 510 feet by 500 feet, two log blockhouses 20 feet square, and a number of log buildings with sod roofs.
I learned a new term with the following information. The Wisconsin troops were replaced with six companies of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry who, in reality, were Confederate prisoners of war to whom were given the name Galvanized Yankees. Of the choices these men were given to be repatriated, they chose service on the western frontier.
As with service on any of the frontier forts, life proved harsh. That first year, 81 men died from scurvy, diarrhea, typhoid fever, or miscellaneous other diseases, and seven died in combat.
Fort Rice served as Sully's base of operations when he led his men out on expeditions in 1864-65 and hosted several Indian council meetings. Indian attacks did occur on the men of the fort, while probably not from frontal attacks they needed to be alert for attacks on the hay and logging crews as well as raids on the horse and cattle herds.
The ground hadn't dried enough yet at the actual site of the fort to allow us to drive in, but a bit of searching turns up some facts of how it looked. Sully ordered his men, several companies of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry, to build a stockade of cottonwood logs measuring 510 feet by 500 feet, two log blockhouses 20 feet square, and a number of log buildings with sod roofs.
I learned a new term with the following information. The Wisconsin troops were replaced with six companies of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry who, in reality, were Confederate prisoners of war to whom were given the name Galvanized Yankees. Of the choices these men were given to be repatriated, they chose service on the western frontier.
As with service on any of the frontier forts, life proved harsh. That first year, 81 men died from scurvy, diarrhea, typhoid fever, or miscellaneous other diseases, and seven died in combat.
Fort Rice served as Sully's base of operations when he led his men out on expeditions in 1864-65 and hosted several Indian council meetings. Indian attacks did occur on the men of the fort, while probably not from frontal attacks they needed to be alert for attacks on the hay and logging crews as well as raids on the horse and cattle herds.
