Fort Wadsworth was begun on 1 August 1864 by Major John Clowney of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry with Companies B, E, G, and K and Captains Burton, Devlin, Swain, and Klatt, under orders from Department Commander General John Pope. Mostly men from the north woods, they chopped and whittled out the post, building huge logs a couple of inches above a dirt embankment taken from a ditch in front to provide loopholes, while two hewn log blockhouses on the northwest and southeast corners gave enfilading fire. Major Clowney said he could resist all the redskins in the Northwest. The fort was named for General James W. Wadsworth, killed in the Battle of the Wilderness on April 2nd, 1864. After Colonel Thomas’ column arrived from the Battle of Killdeer Mountain and moved east on September 28th, 1864, the 30th Wisconsin marched with him, and Major Robert H. Rose of the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry remained in command and completed the post. It was renamed Fort Sisseton in 1876. After the 2nd Minnesota, its garrisons were the 10th U.S. Infantry in 1866, the 20th U.S. Infantry in 1870, the 17th U.S. Infantry in 1873, when the name was changed, the 25th U.S. Infantry in 1885, and the 3rd U.S. Infantry in 1888. Captain Joe Hale of the 3rd was commanding officer when the fort was abandoned on June 1st, 1889. For 25 years it was the military and social center of a large area, and all of the original log buildings had been replaced by stone and frame structures, which were rehabilitated in the 1930s.