3/25/2007:
Fort Pembina is a name that applied to several fur trading posts and forts built at various times, beginning around 1793, near the junction of the Pembina and Red Rivers in northeastern North Dakota. In the 1860s, the Minnesota legislature petitioned Congress for the establishment of a post at Pembina because of unrest in the Red River Valley and the threat of danger from the Sioux Indians. The post would also serve to check illicit trade between Canada and the United States. On this date, March 25th, 1870, a special order was issued from headquarters Department of Dakota to establish a new military post at Pembina. Much of the post was destroyed by fire in May of 1895 and it was abandoned in August of that year.
Sources:
www.falmr.org (Frontier Army Lodge of Masonic Research #1875)
The Quebec History Encyclopedia
A Report of the Hygiene of the United Sates Army with Descriptions of Military Posts, Circular No. 8, War Dept. Surgeon-General’s Office, Washington, May 1, 1875
By Merrill Piepkorn