Fort Peterson Blockhouse, photo by John Stanton 29 Jul 2020
Fort Peterson was one of six forts established along the Minnesota-Iowa border in response to the US-Dakota War in southwestern Minnesota. These forts provided large stockades to hold local settlers if needed. Each was manned by a detachment of the Northern Iowa Border Brigade.
Three of these forts, including Fort Peterson, were nearly identical triangular-shaped forts. The longer south wall incorporated stables and officers’ quarters. The other two walls met at the single two-story blockhouse. Thankfully, the fort was never attacked as it was a badly designed fortification.
Sources: Fortwiki, The Oklahoman
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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.