Historic Fort Snelling

Fun Facts

In 1830 Capt. Seth Eastman arrived at Fort Snelling. Convinced, as were many at the time, that the Dakota were headed toward extinction, the talented soldier/artist painted dozens of works depicting the Dakota and their daily life.
In the 1830s, French astronomer Joseph Nicollet stayed at the fort and created the area's first set of accurate maps.
Zachary Taylor, president of the United States from 1849-50, was commander of Fort Snelling from May 24, 1828, to July 12, 1829. During that time, he wrote that the region was a "most miserable & uninteresting country" and an "out of the way part of the world."
Following the Civil War, victorious Gen. Ulysses S. Grant made a whirlwind tour of the Upper Mississippi. He reportedly enjoyed lemonade on the fort's half-moon battery after a hero's welcome.
In 1838, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, wife of the late President Alexander Hamilton, was one of the "fashionable" people who made the trip upriver. Mrs. Hamilton arrived aboard the steamboat "Burlington" on June 26. During the course of the day, she visited St. Anthony Falls, watched the troops pass in review and was entertained by Major and Mrs. Plympton at the commanding officer's quarters.
U.S. Cavalry horse Whiskey was buried on the fort's grounds in 1943. The trick-performing horse was a popular resident of the fort from the 1920s until his death. Labeled a renegade when he arrived in 1921, Whiskey soon came to the attention of Lt. William Hazelrigg, who spotted the horse's uncanny intelligence. Whiskey was the top horse of the Fort Snelling Blacks polo team and he and Hazelrigg performed widely, including at the Minnesota State Fair. In 1936, at age 25, he was officially retired and lived out his life in leisure in the fort's old cavalry stables with his old performing partners, mules Nat and Snelling. Whiskey's remains, which were in the path of the new light-rail system, were moved to a new location near the Fort Snelling Visitor Center in 2002. Ironically, this location is near the long-gone stables where Whiskey spent his last years.