Old Fort Snelling

In 1917 a pamphlet of 30 pages entitled "Old Fort Snelling," by M.L. Hansen was published by the State Historical Society of Iowa. Marcus Lee Hansen (1892-1938) was an American author, professor and historian. In 1928 he began teaching history at the University of Illinois. In 1941 he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for history. His works include: Old Fort Snelling, 1819-1858 (1917), The Atlantic Migration, 1607-1860 (1940), The Immigrant in American History (1940) and The Mingling of the Canadian and American (with J. B. Brebner) (1940). The establishment in 1917 of a camp at Fort Snelling for the training of officers for the army has aroused curiosity in the history of Old Fort Snelling. Again as in the days of the pioneer settlement of the Northwest the Fort at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers has become an object of more than ordinary interest. Old Fort Snelling was established in 1819 with- in the Missouri Territory on ground which later became a part of the Territory of Iowa. Not until 1849 was it included within Minnesota boundaries. Linked with the early annals of Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Northwest, the history of Old Fort Snelling is the common heritage of many commonwealths in the Upper Mississippi Valley.