Military
2
Access to the fort was controlled in the gatehouse and guardhouse, which also functioned as a police station and fire department. Guards worked in three shifts each day, protecting the post and forming bucket brigades when fires broke out. Musicians assigned to the guard played songs that told soldiers when to eat and work, among other things. The guardhouse contained prison cells, typically used for soldiers awaiting court martial or serving a sentence. Civilians were sometimes imprisoned there as well, including Native Americans and enslaved people. During the Civil War, a new prison was built outside the fort's walls, and the last guardhouse was built in 1891.
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Minnesota · United States
