and military functions of a fort. It also provided they initiated restoration efforts. This decision facilities that would normally have been found spurred an intensive research need. Historians in a surrounding community, including a store, traveled to the National Archives, returning school, chapel, library, and playhouse. This mili- with a trove of documents that proved essential tary complex was a highly structured microcosm in directing more archaeological work.⁵ of the larger society that created it. Forts of this Between 1965 and 1980, all 1820s structures period, size, and importance have been found within the original fort walls, including the walls to be places of display, negotiation, disruption, themselves, were excavated. Excavation docu- and transformation for both those inhabiting mented basements filled with demolition debris them and those living in their shadow.³ but otherwise perfectly intact and o0en including During its 125 years of active service, the fort floor joists, trapdoors, stairs, and thousands of underwent numerous physical changes emblem- artifacts—each a clue into the fort’s unrecorded atic of the US Army’s growth and transforma- daily activities. However, as reconstruction was tion through the Civil War, Spanish American the project’s focus, rather than the archaeology War, and two World Wars. First constructed at itself, archaeological processing and reporting the very bluff tip over the confluence, the fort typically took a back seat to recreating spaces for spread south and west, encompassing more historical interpretation.⁶ prairie. As the region’s cities, highways, and es- As Historic Fort Snelling excavations closed, pecially the Minneapolis-St. Paul International MNHS planned to construct a visitor center. Airport came to the fore, the fort’s footprint This space would provide a staging point, staff shrank. Fort Snelling slowly faded into the offices, labs, and collections storage. An archae- background under manicured lawns and miles ological survey recovered a small artifact as- of paved roads, runways, and parking lots. semblage interpreted as demolition debris from Historic Fort Snelling was designated a Na- mostly wood-frame buildings and not consid- tional Historic Landmark in 1960, and calls for ered archaeologically significant. Occasionally a listing on the National Register of Historic during the 1980s and ’90s, limited excavations Places were made in the register’s inaugural were conducted as building projects required. year—1966. The federal property was given to These included University of Minnesota field the State of Minnesota; a0erwards, its adminis- schools every other year from 1981 to 1991 and tration and development were conveyed to the again in 1997. By this time, the original stables, Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) in 1969. hexagonal tower, hospital, and shops building The society prepared a nomination, and, in Feb- were explored. Archaeological reports were ruary 1970, the fort was listed on the register. o0en short, incomplete, and used as a means to The specific dates of significance are 1819-1858 allow other work to continue.⁷ and 1861-1946. The missing years represent the This piecemeal archaeology continued into time between July 19, 1858, when the fort was the new millennium with excavations both decommissioned and sold to former fort sutler inside and outside the original fort. Finally, in Franklin Steele, and April 23, 1861, when the 2017, Katherine Hayes with the University of US Department of War retook possession and Minnesota conducted limited excavations over occupancy.⁴ the fort’s military prison, which was built in 1864 and demolished in 1972. As the breadth of Minnesota’s Most Investigated archaeological knowledge grew, authors of these Archaeological Site set-piece projects realized the daunting need to Since 1957, Fort Snelling has been the subject of be5er synthesize fort work. Current revitaliza- over thirty seasons of archaeological excavation, tion efforts would provide this opportunity.⁸ yielding well over a half million artifacts. Early work was led by John Callender, who sought to Revitalization discover if foundations remained beneath de- Beginning in 2017, Director Pat Emerson of cades of development. Callender’s discoveries the MNHS Department of Archaeology began spurred MNHS to make Fort Snelling the flag- investigations related to now ongoing revitali- ship of a nascent State Historic Sites Network as zation efforts. The society has demolished the Volume 56 • Number 1 • Spring 2021 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY • 13 1983 visitor center just southwest of the historic buildings and medians. This grid provided a fort and will use a 1904 cavalry barracks instead. horizontal and vertical pinhole picture that con- This construction effort reorients parking, nected the informational dots into a larger land- landscaping, and site layout. Based on previ- scape. However, because the fort has seen more ous archaeological and historic maps, multiple than 200 years of construction, use, demo lition, buildings have existed within the project area, and reuse, these tests were physically demand- including an early cemetery removed in 1905.⁹ ing and time-consuming. Excavators used a large Even prior to the presence of buildings, the metal bar nicknamed “the Crusher” or “Wes- military undoubtedly used the project area for ley”¹¹ to wedge apart compacted rubble layers many activities. Emerson aimed to identify any down to undisturbed soils. Shovel tests took up archaeological materials that lay beneath pro- to two hours for a two-person team to complete, posed improvements and, if found, determine during which time the depths of recovered ma- whether they contributed significant archaeo- terials were noted, the test photo graphed, and logical information requiring plan modification. its location recorded via a satellite- based, global She personally oversaw fieldwork before award- positioning system (GPS). ing Nienow Cultural Consultants a contract to Depending on the results, larger three-foot continue investigations through 2018 and 2019. by three-foot excavation units were then placed, The archaeological practices used to delve o0en in groups of two, and excavated two inches into Fort Snelling’s past included trusted at a time. Teams of archaeologists worked on twentieth-century methods as well as twenty- these units over several days. The excavators first-century innovations. Overlaying historic not only completed each level of work but o0en maps with ground penetrating radar (GPR) and interrupted their pursuits to answer the ques- magnetometry data, archaeologists identified tions of bikers, fort visitors, and fourth graders dozens of anomalies crisscrossing beneath and their teachers. Perhaps the best question the surface—perhaps indicating the presence came from a young man who inquired, “Are you of guard houses, cavalry stables, and other practicing breaking out of prison?” Excavators structures. became adept at not only working while educat- Once local contractor Archaeo-Physics ing but also at giving directions to the airport, Archaeologists subcon- completed these surveys, the work of ground the nearby US Department of Veterans Affairs tracting with Nienow Cultural Consultants truthing¹⁰ began by digging shovel tests. These (VA) Clinic, and Fort Snelling National Ceme- complete shovel tests are circular holes about the size of a fi0een-inch tery. Ultimately, archaeologists completed 110 near the site of the old pizza extending three feet below ground sur- shovel tests and thirty-two excavation units visitor center in 2018. Courtesy of Nienow face and placed every thirty feet across picnic over two seasons. Cultural Consultants, LLC. areas, along the bluff edge, and around existing Once excavation efforts ended, months of ar- tifact processing and identification, additional research, digital map overlays, and deep-think- ing led to the production of several reports shared with project and planning stakeholders and used to develop comprehensive treatment and construction management plans.¹² Em- erson and the excavators again recognized the need to, for the first time, digitally synthesize all the archaeological efforts at the fort to create a one-stop-shop for MNHS. Although Emerson did not live to see its completion, Jennifer Jones, the archaeology department’s associate execu- tive director at the time, took up Emerson’s mantel, and, in 2020, the first comprehensive archaeological geodatabase for Fort Snelling was created. This shows the precise locations of previous archaeological investigations and 14 • RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Volume 56 • Number 1 • Spring 2021 provides hundreds of historic fieldwork images A completed archaeo- logical unit that exposed converted from photographs and slides, previ- internal elements of ous reports, detailed artifact information, and demolished cavalry overlapping building locations. With just a click stables (Building 28) is being documented using of a bu5on, the geodatabase offers the ability to a Matterport 3D camera. unweave the immense archaeological tapestry Courtesy of Nienow woven over the decades.¹³ Cultural Consultants, LLC. These reports are filled with dense scientific jargon and preservation arguments. Their target audience is the Minnesota Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, which ulti- mately decide if enough archaeological work has been done and to what extent discoveries should be protected and construction plans modified. Packed with methodological details, excavation tables, historical maps, and