Fort Bellefontaine (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, then after the Louisiana Purchase and a treaty signed by William H. Harrison and Native American Sauk and Meskwaki representatives 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.
The trading post was discontinued after 1808, and from 1809 to 1826 the facility served as a United States military fort. 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. The Old Fort Belle Fontaine Cemetery was established in 1809, when Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Bissell moved the original Fort Belle Fontaine encampment to a new location.
The new Fort Belle Fontaine, completed in 1811, included 30 buildings, several blockhouses, a rectangular palisade, and an arsenal. In 1826, the second fort was abandoned and replaced by Jefferson Barracks, a new post located in St. Louis.
Part of the site of the fort is preserved as the Fort Belle Fontaine County Park, a unit of the park system of St. Louis County, Missouri. 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 post west of the Mississippi River (1809)
- Served as Army headquarters during the War of 1812
- Supported western expeditions and fur trading operations
- Historic grounds preserved as county park with views along the Mississippi River
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Belle_Fontaine
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-belle-fontaine.htm
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234296
- https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/find-a-park/fort-belle-fontaine/
- https://www.tclf.org/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