Building the Apple River Fort

This area was the site of several cabins built by the early families of the Apple River Settlement. Located on a hillside, it provided a view of the surrounding area, with a spring in the draw to the east supplying water and the Kellogg Trail from Dixon's Ferry to Galena passing nearby. When the settlers heard of Black Hawk's rout of the Illinois militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run on May 14, 1832, they quickly began building a fort for protection. They used one settler's cabin for one corner of the fort and another structure, perhaps a log outbuilding, for the opposite corner. They felled trees, dug a 2-foot to 3-foot trench connecting the two buildings, and erected a palisade of 14- to 15-foot logs, creating a fort 50 x 70 feet in size. The outbuilding was turned into a blockhouse by adding a second story that projected about two feet over the lower story, and firing stands were erected at the two corners opposite the buildings. With the blockhouse and firing stands, the defenders could see in all directions and stop anyone trying to climb the wall or set the fort on fire.

Illinois · United States