By Seth Eastman (1808–1875) - senate.gov gallery, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2774559
Fort Defiance was established on September 18, 1851, by Colonel Edwin V Sumner to create a military presence in Navajo territory. It was buil on valuable grazing land that the federal government then prohibited the Navajo from using. As a result, the appropriately named fort experienced intense fighting, culminating in two attacks in 1856 and 1860. At the onset of the Civil War, the army abandoned the fort, but reestablished it as Fort Canby in 1863 as a base for Kit Carson's operations against the Navajo.
Source: Wikipedia
----------
One of the oldest roads in the state, Fort Road was originally built by the federal government after Fort Ridgely was completed in 1853-54. Supplies were shipped from Fort Snelling to Traverse des Sioux, then transported by wagon to Fort Ridgely.
Nicollet County Road 5 runs more than 42 miles from its eastern terminus at its intersection with US Highway 169 in St Peter to the Renville County line. Old Fort Road presumably extended from Traverse des Sioux, although the portion running through the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College has been blocked off. Fort Road as an address runs from the western edge of St Peter to the end of CR-5.
In an ideal world, a paved trail would have been installed when the road was refurbished in the early 2010s. This planned geocache trail will have to suffice, but won’t alleviate my anxiety when biking here.