Colonel Josiah Snelling

Josiah Snelling served with distinction in the Indian wars of the old northwest border and in the War of 1812. In August, 1820, he assumed command of the Fifth United States Infantry at Camp Coldwater on the site of Fort Snelling. Selecting the bluffs at the junction of the rivers for the construction of Fort St. Anthony, he laid the cornerstone September 10, 1820, and built the stone fort which for years was the Nation's strongest outpost on the Western Frontier. In compliment to him, the War Department changed the fortification's name to Fort Snelling. As a soldier he was a true leader of men, loyal to his country and his superiors; as a pioneer he raised the flag of authority in a lawless wilderness; and as a builder he laid the foundations of civilization in the Northwest.

Minnesota · United States