A little known Army fort in a place most people know little about, had a big part in the settling of the western Dakota Territory.
Fort Rice was established on July 7, 1864 by Gen. Alfred Sully north of the mouth of the Cannonball River and south of the Heart River’s mouth. In other words, the fort was in present-day Morton County, approximately 30 miles south of Mandan.
During the summer of 1864, the Sioux in Dakota Territory were angered by the military expeditions that had attacked Dakota, Lakota, and Yanktonai bands the previous year. In response, the tribes increased their attacks on northern plains transportation routes, including steamboats traveling on the Upper Missouri River.
That summer Sully brought 3,500 troops to the area to punish the Sioux and to force them onto reservations and to strengthen peace in the territory.
The fort was abandoned in November 1878 when Fort Yates was established on the Standing Rock Reservation. Today nothing remains there except foundation depressions and an historic sign with limited information.
But in its short history of only 14 years, a lot happened there. Between 1871 and 1873, expeditions escorted parties surveying the route of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Four companies of the Fort Rice contingent of the 7th Cavalry accompanied Lt. Col. George Custer on the Black Hills expedition in 1874 and two companies from Fort Rice fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Numerous meetings were held and treaties were signed on the premises. Although tensions remained high for the entire duration of the fort’s usage, it served as an invaluable outpost in the frontier for the U.S. military.
Having that Cavalry presence nearby meant that travelers, railway surveyors and workmen were safe from ambushes from indigenous peoples and wildlife.
The winter of 1864-65 was incredibly difficult, however. Eighty-one men died, mostly from scurvy as a result of malnutrition. Seven of the 81 losses resulted from attacks from Lakota tribesmen, who believed the property where the fort sat and its 112,000 acres, rightfully belonged to the Lakota people.
Legally speaking, their belief was true because the land Fort Rice sat on was a direct violation of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Lakota leaders demanded the removal of the fort.
Prominent Sioux leaders including Sitting Bull, led attacks against the fort’s supplies and livestock in hopes of making the Soldiers of the30th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment abandon the fort.
Other notable history at Fort Rice included the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868. It brought 50,000 Sioux to Fort Rice for the signing of specific articles of the treaty, with Running Antelope and Two Bears attending. Sitting Bull was not there, but one of his representatives was in attendance. Think about that number! It’s the size of current-day Minot.
In addition to official documentation, some of the Soldiers penned their own history while stationed at Fort Rice. Their version of history was what they witnessed and was written in their journals.
As an example, they wrote about surveillance on the tribal people in the area. Some of them were involved in attacks and fought in combat, revealing the details of those battles.
The Soldiers also wrote about “terrible” infestations of grasshoppers during the summer months. They said there were grasshoppers everywhere and for a time, there was no escape from them.
Long after the fort was abandoned, an F5 tornado hit the community of Fort Rice on May 29, 1953 with 260-318-mile-per-hour winds. The tornado killed two people, injured 20 and wiped out numerous buildings including a Catholic church, a general store and half the local school.
The tornado crossed the Missouri River and moved northeast into Emmons County, dissipating before it reached Moffit in Burleigh County.
