Fort Belle Fontaine (St. Louis County, Missouri)
St. Louis County · Missouri · War of 1812
History & Significance
Located on the south bank of the Missouri River, Fort Belle Fontaine was first a Spanish military post. After the Louisiana Purchase and a treaty signed by William H. Harrison and representatives of the Native American Sauk and Meskwaki tribes on November 3, 1804, the fort in 1805 became a fur trading post of the U.S. government.
Rudolf Tiller served as factor and Colonel Thomas Hunt served as the military commander. Cantonment Belle Fontaine was built on the south bank of the Missouri River at the mouth of Coldwater Creek by companies of the 1st U.S. Infantry under Lt. Colonel Jacob Kingsbury.
The trading post was discontinued after 1808, and from 1809 to 1826 the facility served as a United States military fort. From about 1809 to 1815, it served as the headquarters of the Department of Louisiana, and was the regional Army headquarters during the War of 1812.
By 1809, the post had deteriorated and relocation to a new site above a bluff began. The new Fort Belle Fontaine, completed in 1811, included 30 buildings, several blockhouses, a rectangular palisade, and an arsenal.
During the War of 1812 it was frequently threatened by marauding bands of Indians in pay of the British, but was never attacked. It was the point of rendezvous for campaigns against Britain and their Indian allies. An archaeological site associated with the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- First U.S. military installation west of the Mississippi River (1804)
- Spanish colonial-era fortification architecture
- War of 1812 regional Army headquarters
- Fur trading post history
- Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Belle_Fontaine
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-belle-fontaine.htm
- https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/places/fort-belle-fontaine/
- https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Illinois/_Texts/journals/JIllSHS/4/3/Old_Fort_Belle_Fontaine*.html
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234296