Fort Abercrombie was built in 1857 along the heavily wooded Red River, 15 miles north of the present-day towns of Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Breckenridge, Minnesota. Both towns were founded at the “Head of the Red” in 1858 by Pierre Bottineau, a French-Chippewa frontiersman and railroad surveyor. He led a team of men from St. Paul who spent the winter there to hold the claim.
The expedition was supported by railroad tycoon James J. Hill, the Empire Builder. Hill had genuine regard for Bottineau, who was dubbed “The Walking Peace Pipe,” among other descriptive nicknames.
Fort Abercrombie was built to protect railroad workers, although Native American claims to the Red River Valley had not yet been legally extinguished. In September 1862, Pierre was at Fort Abercrombie in Dakota Territory. He was on his way to the Old Crossing Treaty in northern Minnesota, carrying goods and livestock for the Chippewa.
But that year, the Dakota Conflict had begun in Minnesota. Santee warriors crept through the tall grass and timber to attack the fort at dawn. During the six-hour battle, soldiers exchanged words and gunfire with an unseen Santee warrior, dubbed “The Polite Enemy” in subsequent reports.
The Polite Enemy kept up a teasing game while dodging from tree to tree and slithering through the tall grass and brush. At one point, he chided the soldiers about the unfair advantage provided by Bottineau’s deadly marksmanship and his position on a rooftop.
Under cover of night, Bottineau slipped through the enemy lines on foot. He traveled 80 miles to Sauk Centre and obtained reinforcements. Around four or five fort personnel died during the six-week conflict. The number of Dakota warriors killed is unknown. Only two were found dead at the scene, including the Polite Enemy, whose strategy of distraction may have allowed as many as 20 other fallen warriors to be carried away.
On this date in 1877, the military officially abandoned the fort as the frontier and rail networks moved farther west. In 1939 and 1940, the fort was reconstructed through the Works Progress Administration. Since then, the site has been updated with environmental and cultural considerations in mind, along with interpretive technology.
Breckenridge historian Chet Gewalt grew up among settlers and Native people and collected many interesting stories and interviews, including material featured in a special edition of the Wahpeton newspaper in 1937.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
SOURCES:
- Richland County Farmer Globe. HISTORICAL EDITION. Dedicated to the Hardy Early Settlers Who Pioneered in the Upper Red River Valley. C.A. Gewalt, old-timer interviews. Tuesday, November 30, 1937.
- A History of Red Lake County, Minnesota: Pierre Bottineau. http://www.redlakecountyhistory.org/bottineau.htm
- Emily Gedde, March 2024: Maple Grove Magazine, The History Behind the Pierre Bottineau House. https://maplegrovemag.com/the-history-behind-the-pierre-bottineau-house/
- State Historical Society of North Dakota, Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site - History. https://www.history.nd.gov/historicsites/abercrombie/abercrombiehistory2.html
- Military Reservation at Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory, 44th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Miscellaneous Document No. 137, (Washington, DC: General Printing Office, 1876).
- Fort Abercrombie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Abercrombie
