Fort Sisseton

Fort Sisseton (1864-1889) - First established in 1864 as Fort Wadsworth (2) by Maj. John Clowney and named after BG James S. Wadsworth, who was mortally wounded, 8 May 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness, in Virginia. Renamed Fort Sisseton, 29 Aug 1876, after the local Sisseton Sioux Indian Tribe. Abandoned in 1889.

Fort Sisseton History

Established 1 Aug 1864 as Fort Wadsworth by Maj. John Clowney, 30th Wisconsin Infantry, after the 1862 Sioux Indian uprising. Strategically located atop a tableland called Coteau des Praries, the fort was built to control the hostile Indians and to protect travel routes to the gold fields in Idaho and Montana.

The post was renamed Fort Sisseton, 29 Aug 1876, after the local Sisseton Sioux Indian Tribe, when it was discovered that the original name conflicted with a Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, New York, also named for BG James S. Wadsworth.

By the 1880s the need for the fort had disappeared and the post was turned over to the Interior Department for disposition 22 April 1889 and abandoned by the Army on 9 Jun 1889.

Current Status

Fort Sisseton State Park, National Historic Landmark. Restoration of the fort was begun in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration, WPA, and carried on to date.

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Location: Fort Sisseton State Park, Marshall County, South Dakota. Maps & Images Lat: 45.6577308 Long: -97.5303749 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1,831'

Sources:

• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 733

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Sisseton

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