Apple River Fort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Apple River Fort Site
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Reconstruction of the fort
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Elizabeth, Illinois |
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| Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
| Built | 1832 |
| NRHP reference No. | 97001332 |
| Added to NRHP | November 7, 1997 |
The Apple River Fort, now called the Apple River Fort State Historic Site, was a frontier fort built quickly by settlers. It was located in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. This fort was made during the 1832 Black Hawk War.
You can find the fort in Elizabeth, Illinois, in the United States. It was built in less than a week! The Apple River Fort was one of the few forts attacked during the war. It was also the only one attacked by a group led by Black Hawk himself.
During the Battle of Apple River Fort, a fight lasted about an hour. Black Hawk's group eventually left. The fort lost one soldier, and another was hurt. After the war, the fort stayed standing until 1847. It was later taken apart by a new owner.
Today, a copy of the fort stands near where the real one was. This copy was built between 1996 and 1997. It was made by a non-profit group. They used information from old digs at the site to build it.
In 1997, the Apple River Fort Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special historical spot. In 2001, the state of Illinois took over the site. They named it the Apple River Fort State Historic Site.
The fort was almost closed in 2008 because of money cuts. But after a new governor took office, the site reopened in May 2009.
Contents
History of the Fort
Early Settlers at Apple River
The first people to settle near Apple River Fort were likely miners. They probably arrived more than ten years before the fort was built. These miners made their homes and log cabins near Kellogg's Trail. This was a path from Galena to Dixon's Ferry. They got fresh water from a nearby spring.
Why the Black Hawk War Started
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Michigan Territory (Wisconsin)
Illinois
Unorganized
Territory (Iowa)  |
Map of Black Hawk War sites Battle (with name)  Fort / settlement  Native villageSymbols are wikilinked to article |
The Black Hawk War led to the fort being built. This war happened because of a treaty from 1804. This treaty was between the Governor of the Indiana Territory and leaders from the Sauk and Fox Native American tribes.
The treaty said that the Sauk and Fox tribes gave up a huge amount of their land to the United States. They received some money and a yearly payment. But the treaty was not popular with everyone. Sauk Chief Black Hawk and others said it wasn't fair. They said the full tribal councils were not asked, and the leaders who signed it didn't have the right to give away land. The treaty also let the Sauk and Fox stay on their land until it was sold.
In the 1820s, lead was found near Galena, Illinois. Miners then started moving onto the land from the 1804 treaty. When the Sauk and Fox came back from their winter hunt in 1829, they found white settlers on their land. They were forced to move west of the Mississippi River.
Black Hawk was angry about losing his homeland. From 1830 to 1831, he led his people back across the Mississippi several times. Each time, he was convinced to go back without fighting. In April 1832, Black Hawk again crossed the river into Illinois. He had about 1,000 warriors and their families. He hoped other tribes and the British would help him.
But he found no allies. He tried to go back to Iowa. However, the Illinois militia caused a fight at Battle of Stillman's Run. After this first fight, the Apple River Fort was built very quickly. More battles followed, and soldiers from Michigan and Illinois tried to find Black Hawk's group.
Building the Fort
The first settlers in the area built the Apple River Fort. They needed protection during the 1832 Black Hawk War. When the war started, settlers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois built many forts and strong homes. Apple River Fort was one of these. It was built after the Illinois Militia lost at Stillman's Run on May 14.
A newspaper called The Galenian said the main building, called a blockhouse, was done by May 22, 1832. The outer wall, or stockade, was finished a few days later. Local families and single men formed a militia group. They chose Clack Stone, a surveyor, as their captain.
The Apple River settlement had several families who had traveled far. These included the Crains and the Armstrongs. Other families, like the Flacks and Howards, lived in nearby cabins. The Murdock family already lived close to the new fort.
There are not many old descriptions of the fort. One detailed description from 1878 says:
Trees were cut down and brought to the area. A three-foot deep ditch was dug for the stockade wall. Each log was put into place and dirt was filled around it. The logs stood about twelve feet high. One corner of the fort used two walls of an existing log house. In the opposite corner, a two-story "block house" was built. The second story stuck out about two feet. This made it hard for attackers to get close to set it on fire. On one side of the yard were two long cabins for living. In the other two corners, raised platforms were built into the walls. These were called "bastions" and were used to stand on and look out.
The Battle at Apple River Fort
Black Hawk and 200 warriors attacked the fort on the afternoon of June 24, 1832. About thirty men and boys defended the fort. There were also about 40 women, children, and babies inside. One man, a messenger named Edmund Welch, was shot in the hip early in the fight.
The firefight lasted about an hour. The Illinois Militia at Apple River Fort had only one person killed, George W. Harkleroad. One man, Josiah Nutting, was wounded. During the battle, several women helped defend the fort. Elizabeth Armstrong was especially brave. She encouraged the settlers, especially the women, to support the defenders. We don't know how many of Black Hawk's group were hurt.
What Happened After the War
After the war, the fort stayed standing into the 1840s. Right after the war, two people lived there without owning the land. In 1847, George Bainbridge bought the land and the fort from the United States federal government. Bainbridge took apart the fort and used the good logs to build a barn on his land. The fort site was mostly left alone for many years.
In 1994, a non-profit group called the Apple River Historical Foundation was started. They began looking into the site in 1995. In June 1997, they finished building a copy of the fort. Today, this replica stands south of the original site. The original site is left untouched to protect its history.
The state historic site at Apple River Fort was supposed to close on October 1, 2008. This was because of money cuts by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. People who supported the site protested the closing. They worried about how it would affect the town. After some delays, the plan to close several state parks and historic sites, including Apple River Fort, went ahead on November 30, 2008.
After Governor Blagojevich was removed from office, the new governor, Pat Quinn, reopened the closed state parks in February. In March 2009, Quinn said he would reopen the state historic sites by June 30, 2009.
Finding the Fort's Past: Archaeology
The Apple River Fort Historic Foundation started trying to find the exact spot of the original fort in the spring of 1995. Local stories said the fort was on a hill not far from Main Street in Elizabeth. The group wasn't sure if the stories were true, so they hired an archaeologist. This expert would help them find the old fort.
Floyd Mansberger led the archaeological digs and studies at the site. He worked with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency in the summer of 1995. First, the team walked over the site. They found some pre-Civil War artifacts. Then, they gently tilled the ground to collect items from the surface.
This collection found many different items. These included types of glass, ceramics, personal items, and small pieces of brick and stone. These items strongly suggested that people lived at the Apple River Fort site in the early 1800s. It seemed they didn't stay much past 1860, and their stay was short. The archeology found the original shape of the fort. It was smaller than thought, about 50 feet (15 m) by 70 feet (21 m). These findings helped us understand the early Apple River settlement much better.
The archaeologists' work at the fort site helped build the replica fort starting in 1996. Volunteers built the fort using the same tools and materials the original settlers would have used. They stripped and split logs by hand. They also split shingles by hand. A trench was dug to connect the two cabin copies inside. The stockade walls were made from logs 14 to 15 feet (4.6 m) long. Volunteers also built a blockhouse and firing stands with ladders made by hand.
How the Fort Was Designed
During the archaeological study, it was found that Apple River Fort was built very similarly to Fort Blue Mounds. This was another fort from the Black Hawk War near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. The main difference was where buildings were placed inside the walls.
The digs at Apple River found twelve original features of the fort. Remains of four cellars were found inside. One in the southeast corner might have been used for storing food or making dairy products. In the northwest corner, there were two more cellars, west of one of the log buildings. The largest cellar was under the fort's blockhouse. It was used as a trash pit into the 1840s. This blockhouse cellar had the oldest items found at the site.
Why the Fort is Important
The Apple River Fort was important in the 1832 Black Hawk War. It was one of the few forts that was attacked during the war. It was also the only fort attacked by a group led by Black Hawk himself. The original fort site still has the chance to show us more important historical items and information hidden underground.
Because of its military and archaeological importance, the Apple River Fort Site was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1997. On January 1, 2001, the state of Illinois took over running the rebuilt Apple River Fort and its visitor center. The state now runs the area as the Apple River Fort State Historic Site. Illinois bought the site partly with a US$160,000 grant.
See also
