Historic Ft. Snelling Visit

Last Sunday, my family and I went to Ft. Snelling State Park (Minnesota) to hike on Pike Island. We parked near the hill that goes up to Historic Ft. Snelling and my daughter wanted to see the fort again. She'd been there before on a school field trip. So we walked up the hill to the fort and found it closed. We poked our heads in the main gate and someone came over to talk to us from inside. He told us they would open in a few minutes and we could buy tickets at the visitor center. I felt the tug on my pocket already.

We ended up buying the annual family pass with extras. I'm an easy mark.

The soldier who greeted us made us feel welcome.

This is the view from the tower.
The soldiers dressing to fire the cannon.

A view of the gate from the inside. The guys in red are musicians. I took their photo, but it's out of focus.

The woman through the doorway showed us how they made bread.


This is the fort store.

Pots and beaver pelts.
This is the store owner.


My favorite part of the visit was listening to the story of Dred Scott. He lived in the fort for eight years. We sat in the room in which he lived and listened to the story of his fight for freedom told by a historian. The story is so compelling and important that I didn't remember to take any photos of his room. I left the fort feeling a bit low after hearing the historian recite the Supreme Court decision. The justices essentially decided who gets to be human and who doesn't.

I suppose most people remember something about the Dred Scott case from History class. Unless you are still very familiar with it, I recommend you review it. It's still relevant.