# Fort Atkinson State Preserve > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fort_Atkinson_State_Preserve > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fort_Atkinson_State_Preserve.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Atkinson_State_Preserve > Source revision: 1355108146 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|1840s U.S. Army post, in Iowa, US}} {{see also|Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox park | name = Fort Atkinson State Preserve | image = 2009-0528-FortAtkinson2.jpg | image_caption = Fort Atkinson's powder magazine | image_alt = Stone structure | image_size = 280 | map = USA Iowa#USA | map_caption = Location in Iowa##Location in United States | map_size = 280 | relief = 1 | map_label = Fort Atkinson State Preserve | location = [Winneshiek County, Iowa](/source/Winneshiek_County%2C_Iowa), United States | nearest_city = | coordinates = {{coord|43.1455556|-91.9391667|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = | area = {{convert|5|acre}} | elevation = {{convert|1096|ft|m|abbr=on}}{{cite gnis|1941476|Fort Atkinson (historical)}} | established = 1921 (state acquisition); 1968 (dedication) | administrator = [Iowa Department of Natural Resources](/source/Iowa_Department_of_Natural_Resources) | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | website = {{Official website}} | module = {{Infobox NRHP | name = Fort Atkinson Historic District | embed = yes | nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes | image = | caption = | location = | nearest_city = | built = | builder = | architect = | architecture = | added = February 27, 2013 | area = | mpsub = | refnum = 13000036 }} }} '''Fort Atkinson State Preserve''' is a state preserve of [Winneshiek County](/source/Winneshiek_County%2C_Iowa), [Iowa](/source/Iowa), United States, containing the remnants of Fort Atkinson, a [U.S. Army](/source/U.S._Army) frontier post created to keep the peace between various [Native American](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) tribes as well as prevent white settlers from encroaching on Native lands. In February 2013 the fort was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) as '''Fort Atkinson Historic District'''. ==History== thumb|left|Remains of north barracks, showing exposed interior fireplaces thumb|left|Fort Atkinson north barracks in 1912, after abandonment The [1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien](/source/Fourth_Treaty_of_Prairie_du_Chien), negotiated between the United States and various tribes, established the Neutral Ground: the tribes agreed to land cession of a {{convert|40|mi|km|adj=mid|-wide}} strip of land, two strips of land {{convert|20|mi}} wide each on either side of the boundary roughly from present-day [La Crosse, Wisconsin](/source/La_Crosse%2C_Wisconsin) and [Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin](/source/Prairie_du_Chien%2C_Wisconsin), extending from the [Mississippi River](/source/Mississippi_River) to the [Des Moines River](/source/Des_Moines_River) in what today is southeastern [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota) and northeastern [Iowa](/source/Iowa). Originally planned as a [buffer zone](/source/buffer_zone) between the [Sac and Fox Nation](/source/Sac_and_Fox_Nation) and [Sioux](/source/Sioux) Nation, the land was soon designated for the [Ho-Chunk](/source/Ho-Chunk) (or Winnebago) tribe after their removal from [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin). Fort Atkinson was founded to keep the Ho-Chunk on the Neutral Ground, and to protect them from other tribes as well as prevent white traders and settlers from intruding on Indian land. The post was also reinforced the authority of the U.S. government official who operated a school, model farm and provided supplies to the Ho-Chunk. A camp was founded on the site on May 31, 1840 by Cpt. Lynde commanding Co. F, [5th US Infantry](/source/5th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)) and named after [Henry Atkinson](/source/Henry_Atkinson_(soldier)), the commanding officer in charge of the Ho-Chunk resettlement. The fort took three years to construct and was completed by the end of summer of 1842. Company B, [1st US Dragoons](/source/1st_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)) arrived on June 24, 1840, remaining until June 20, 1846. Co. F, 5th US Infantry was replaced on Sept 10, 1841 by Co. K, [1st US Infantry](/source/1st_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)), which recently arrived from Florida. Co. I, 1st US Dragoons under [Captain James Allen](/source/James_Allen_(Army_engineer))Captain James Allen at http://www.jlindquist.com/allen.html was additionally posted at Ft. Atkinson from August to November 1842, the three companies marked the largest garrison at the post during its history with 196 soldiers in the garrison in August 1842. Co. A & B, 1st US Infantry were each briefly at the post in the spring and summer of 1843. Co. E, 1st US Infantry, replaced Co. K on May 19, 1844. The infantry left the post on Sept 9, 1845. After Co. B, 1st US Dragoons left in June 1846, to report to Ft. Leavenworth in response to the [Mexican–American War](/source/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War), the post was briefly vacant. Morgan's Iowa Company of Volunteer Infantry began staffing the fort on July 15, 1846. Parker's Iowa Company of Mounted Volunteers arrived in September 1846, but was disbanded as being too expensive in November 1846. Morgan's Company was reorganized as a mounted unit in July 1847 and helped moved the Ho-Chuck from Iowa to Minnesota in June 1848. The last of the militia left on September 11, 1848. The fort was again briefly vacant until Co. C, [6th US Infantry](/source/6th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)) under Captain T L Alexander reached the post from Mexico on Sept. 28, 1848. The fort was abandoned by the 6th US Infantry on February 24, 1849.Steven M. Baule, A brief look back at Ft. Atkinson, Iowa and the Year 1843, Ft. Dodge, IGG, 1992. The fort was sold at [public auction](/source/public_auction) in 1855. The private owners had the land surveyed and [plat](/source/plat)ted for the town of Fort Atkinson. In 1906, a geologic study of [Winneshiek County](/source/Winneshiek_County%2C_Iowa) named the stone used in the fort as the Fort Atkinson Limestone Member of the [Maquoketa Group](/source/Maquoketa_Group), having originated from a shallow tropical sea 440 million years ago. The state of Iowa acquired the fort in 1921 and reconstruction started in 1958. In 1968, the fort was dedicated as part of the State Preserves System because of its geological, archaeological and historical value.{{cite book|last=Carr|first=Jeffrey T.|author2=William E. Whittaker|title=Frontier Forts of Iowa: Indians, Traders, and Soldiers, 1682-1862|editor=W.E. Whittaker|publisher=University of Iowa Press|location=Iowa City, Iowa|year=2009|pages=146–160|chapter=Fort Atkinson, Iowa, 1840-1849|isbn=978-1-58729-831-8|url=http://uipress.uiowa.edu/books/2009-fall/whittaker.htm|access-date=2010-04-07|archive-date=2009-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805200748/http://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/2009-fall/whittaker.htm|url-status=dead}} ==Design== thumb|300px|1842 sketch of Fort Atkinson The fort included 24 buildings and an 11'9" [stockade](/source/stockade), outside of which were 14 additional buildings. The design was typical of frontier posts, using a rectangular layout enclosed by a wooden picket-stockade. A parade ground was at the center, surrounded by four main [barracks](/source/barracks). Cannon houses sat at the northeast and southwest corners, a [gunpowder magazine](/source/gunpowder_magazine) in the southeast corner and a [commissary](/source/commissary) in the northwest. Buildings outside the fort included the granary, bakery, blacksmith and stables. The buildings were constructed out of [limestone](/source/limestone) quarried nearby or [hewn](/source/Hewing) logs with cut-pine shingle roofs. {{clear left}} ==References== {{cite web |url=https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/all-parks/fort-atkinson-state-preserve |title=Fort Atkinson State Preserve |publisher=Iowa Department of Natural Resources |accessdate=March 29, 2025}} ==External links== {{commons category|Fort Atkinson (Iowa)|Fort Atkinson State Preserve}} *[https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/all-parks/fort-atkinson-state-preserve Fort Atkinson State Preserve] Iowa Department of Natural Resources *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100528131503/http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/learn/historic/FtAtkinson9.pdf Fort Atkinson and the Winnebago Occupation of Iowa, 1840–1849] {{Protected Areas of Iowa}} {{NRHP in Winneshiek County, Iowa}} Category:Archaeological sites in Iowa Atkinson Category:History museums in Iowa Category:Iowa state preserves Category:Military and war museums in Iowa Atkinson Category:National Register of Historic Places in Winneshiek County, Iowa Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Category:Museums in Winneshiek County, Iowa Category:Pre-statehood history of Iowa Category:Protected areas established in 1968 Category:Protected areas of Winneshiek County, Iowa Category:Historic districts in Winneshiek County, Iowa Category:1968 establishments in Iowa --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Atkinson State Preserve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Atkinson_State_Preserve) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Atkinson_State_Preserve?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.