Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Fort Brule Monument

 I came upon this historical site completely by accident. I've driven by this place countless times without ever noticing that it was there. I was out on another buffalo hunt and I just happened to pick this place to turn around.

Needless to say, I never found the buffaloes I was looking for. I thought I would find them near this place, but they just weren't on the road I thought they would be. In fact, nothing there looked at all familiar, so I think I got the location completely wrong.

I guess it was just complete luck that I found this place. It's called the Fort Brule Monument. There are actually little historical sites all over the place around here, but I haven't seen any quite as interesting as this one.

This stone was erected to mark the site of Fort Brule. Fort Brule was, as you might have guessed, a fort that was erected by soldiers and settlers in 1862 as protection against hostile Indians. It didn't really last very long, as it was abandoned in 1868.

The important part  here is that this isa the site of an actual fort. I didn't know there were any forts around here. This was news to me when I found it by the roadside. It's always fun to come across a piece of actual history like this.

If you click on the picture above you can read as much of the story as I know now. I'm not sure there was much more to the story than what you can read here because the fort lasted only just a short time. Even though it was just a short time though, the fort was a piece of history that not many people remember now.

Now this place is just a lonely old stone monument that sites by the side of the road waiting for someone like me to just happen along while out on another little adventure. It's kind of sad in a way. Just think of how many other places like this that must exist throughout the country. They're all just waiting and hoping to be rediscovered.

I'm glad I was one of the people who happened by this little monument. Most people will never share it with the rest of the world. Now that more people know about it, maybe it's not quite so lost to time. This is one place that will be remembered as long as The Everyday Adventurer exists. I'll talk to you later.

6 comments:

  1. Since they took the time to put up a monument for a fort that lasted such a short time, I wonder if there is an interesting story behind it.

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    1. I'm sure there must be more top the story. Maybe if I do a little research I'll find out more.

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  2. It's good that they at least marked the spot. Imagine how many places are not marked and we just walk all over them everyday! Cool find, Ratty!

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    1. Yeah. I can just imagine the large amount of forts and other places that are forgotten forever.

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  3. Very interesting. I haven't heard of that one, but I don't know as much history out that way.

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    1. I've been reading a little about it, and apparently there were several of these forts in the area.

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