Minnesota's Military and the Mighty Mississippi

For Memorial Day we thought it would be fitting to visit the historical Fort Snelling, weather permitting.  The Weather Channel was calling for rain.  We had thunderstorms a good part of the night and woke up to a downpour but by 11:00 the rain was letting up and it was turning into a nice day.  We fed the kids lunch, packed a quick picnic supper, coated ourselves with sunblock and loaded up in the van.

 

The Fort was built to protect the frontier and the fur trade.  Some of it was original but most reconstructed.  We got to see some of the archaeological process via video and a section not reconstructed for that purpose.

This is still an active military base and was used fully during WWII for training purposes.  The Fort stands at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers many of Minnesota's firsts were located at this site including the first church and first school.  The Round Tower, still standing, was built to be the last line of defense should the fort be taken.  It is the oldest building in Minnesota.

The flag was noticeable before we entered the Fort.  JD counted 24 stars.  We were able to see what practice looked like on the parade grounds and learn about early military tactics and weapons.  A good soldier could shoot three shots a minute and the company as a whole was more important than a single man.  They had to be quick and precise in their movements.

Erin and JJ marching on the parade grounds.

We also got to see a timeline of U.S. Military uniforms and saw a demonstration of the changes in their weapons from the musket to the guns used in Vietnam.



Inside one of the buildings the kids were able to make poppies.  JR declined but the other two gave it a try.

The Fort is set up to call a number and hear "History on the Spot".  We did not try it out this time but since we bought the Minnesota Historical Society Membership, we will be back to experience more in the future.  Part of the phone tour is available around the Round Tower.

A view of Fort Snelling from the top of the Round Tower. 
The far building is another of the original still standing.

 We ate our PB&J supper with a view of the Mississippi.  Okay, the kids chose to put their backs toward it but it was still a lovely area.  The river is high right now and I preferred my little wanderer to sit anyway.  She makes me nervous.  The smells of BBQ ed meat smelled wonderful as we ate our PB&J but since we didn't know exactly what the day would hold we wanted to be prepared with a meal that could be eaten about anywhere.

We are westerners now you know, living on the other side of the Mississippi.  We drove around to find a picnic spot but hope to know the area better in the future.  The river is not real wide in this area but it is beautiful.  I wonder when it would be appropriate to read Tom Sawer and Huck Finn to my biggest.  It's hard to look at the Mississippi and not think about those stories.  I've seen the Mississippi in St Louis and now in St Paul.

 BTW...the Fort had a store.  In 1820 the next nearest store was 700 miles away in St. Louis.  The lady inside said it took a day to go down the river and 8 days to come back up.  I'm thankful to live a few miles from a Wal-Mart and two minutes from Cub Foods.

Thank You to our Military men and women through the years who have fought the wilderness and fought the enemy so we can live a life of freedom and comfort in the USA.