Historic Fort Snelling

National Historic Landmark

Mailing Address:
200 Tower Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55111
 Directions

Contact

(612)-726-1171

Admission

$11 Adults · $9 Seniors
$9 College Students
$6 Children ages 6-17
Free for children age 5 and under and MHS members.

Hours

Mem. Day - Labor Day:
Tues - Sat 10 am - 5 pm
Sun 12 - 5 pm
Sept & Oct:
Sat. 10 am - 5 pm
*Open Memorial Day, July 4 & Labor Day 10 am - 5 pm

Hours and fees subject to change.

2013 May 25

54°
Fort Snelling, MN
Overcast | Wind Calm
updated: 2:40 wunderground.com
 

Soldiers' Gardens

Home | Plan a Visit | What to Do | Soldiers' Gardens

Tour Historic Fort Snelling

1 Gate and Guardhouse
2 Soldiers' Gardens
3 Schoolhouse
4 Round Tower
5 Sutler Store
6 Married Quarters
7 Squad Room
8 Parade Ground
9 Wood Barracks
10 Commanding Officers' Quarters
11 Half-Moon Battery
12 Officers' Quarters
13 Dred Scott's Quarters
14 Shops
15 Hospital

Also of Interest
16 North Battery
17 Gun Shed
18 Powder Magazine
19 Well
20 Officers' Latrines
21 Commissary
22 South Battery

Not Pictured
Visitors Center and Gift Shop
Sibley House Historic Site (Nearby)
Soldiers' Gardens

In the 1820s, soldiers had to produce their own corn, wheat and vegetables, and tend livestock. See heirloom crops.

Topographical Map of Fort St. Anthony (Fort Snelling), drawn by Sergeant Joseph Heckle, 1823. Minnesota Historical Society Collections.

This map from 1823 shows the locations of some of the post fields and gardens. Soldiers cultivated fields to the west of the fort on the prairies, as well as along the river bottom below the fort.

 

History

To make the fort as self-sufficient as possible, the garrison planted crops in nearby fields. Soldiers spent most of their time cultivating and harvesting approximately 400 acres of corn, wheat, hay, and vegetables. Weather, flooding, and pests (specifically blackbirds) were the greatest threats to the fort’s crops. The military had so much trouble with frontier agriculture that in 1833 a general order was issued which disbanded the practice of requiring forts to grow their own food, with the exception of keeping vegetable gardens. However, officers were allowed their own personal gardens, which may have been worked by enlisted soldiers as well as by servants or slaves. 

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