Pike's Fort

Pike's Fort is a Minnesota historical marker in Morrison County.

Trunk highway 27, 3 miles south of Little Falls · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

On the west bank of the Mississippi opposite this point, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike built a stockade for his exploring party for the winter of 1805-6. Rapids formerly in the river here bore his name. The fort site is marked but there is no bridge nearer than Little Falls.

Verbatim 1940 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Minnesota now calls the 1862 conflict the U.S.-Dakota War and has since replaced the wording on some of these signs.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1817 · North Western and MichiganTerritories. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1835 · A Reconnoissance Of The Minnay Sotor Watapah = St. Peter's River to its sources (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1859 · Colton's Minnesota & Dakota (1859) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1870 · Burritt's Sectional Minnesota (1870) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Minnesota. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

A Reconnoissance Of The Minnay Sotor Watapah = St. Peter's River to its sources, 1835, covering the location of Pike's Fort, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Reconnoissance Of The Minnay Sotor Watapah = St. Peter's River to its sources, 1835, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours and the location is approximate.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyExpected here. This page shows the older published text, and some signs were recast later. Telling us still helps.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker data: Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Work Projects Administration, Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department Cooperating with the Minnesota Historical Society (1940)

Pike's Fort

Historical maps covering this location

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