Fort Seward, formerly Fort Cross, was established on June 3, 1872, on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the James River and Pipestone Creek. Although the Sioux Indians had recently been settled on reservations, occasional raiding parties and intermittent warfare farther west created a need for military protection for Northern Pacific railroad workers and property. Established along the rail line, Fort Seward served as a supply depot for Fort Tolten, eighty-one miles to the north, and also assisted U.S. marshals in enforcing federal laws in the Jamestown vicinity, supported the telegraph company in keeping its line open, and served as a military mail and message transfer point. Soldiers escorted the paymaster and officers and accompanied herds of beef cattle en route to posts on the Missouri River. The two-company infantry post was named for William H. Seward, former U.S. Secretary of State, and was originally commanded by Captain J.C. Bates of Company B, 20th U.S. Infantry. Built mostly of lumber, the fort included quarters for troops and officers, a hospital, a guard house, store house, stables, a granary, a bake house, offices, and workshops, with post and hospital gardens less than a mile away. During the summer of 1872, 900 railway workers lived in tents in the vicinity of Fort Seward. After railroad construction stalled at Bismarck in 1873, the need for Fort Seward's military protection declined, and the fort was abandoned on September 30, 1877. Most of its buildings were dismantled, and the lumber was shipped to Fort Totten. In 1925, the Northern Pacific Railroad deeded part of the site to the State Historical Society, and in 1969, the Lutheran Hospitals and Homes Society of America donated additional land.