FORT MIMS 



2271 



FORT SCOTT 



Among the more prominent buildings are 

 the Federal building, erected in 1913 at a cost 

 of $75,000; the German-American bank build- 

 ing, erected in 1916 at a cost of $110,000; Cot- 

 termole Memorial library, and the Santa Fe 

 and Sacred Heart hospitals. The state peni- 

 tentiary is located here. There are four public 

 parks. From the bluffs the views up and down 

 the river are attractive. There is a fine rail- 

 road and wagon bridge across the Mississippi. 



The industrial establishments are a packing 

 house, shops of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 

 Fe Railroad, whose monthly pay roll is $70,000, 

 grain elevators, brick works, cement-block 

 works, foundries and machine shops, wrapping- 

 paper mills and plow factories. 



A stockade fort was built on the site of Fort 

 Madison in 1805; in 1813 it was destroyed by 

 fire. A permanent settlement was made in 

 1833; the town was chartered in 1836 and be- 

 came a city in 1839. J.J.H. 



FORT MIMS, MASSACRE OF, an Indian mas- 

 sacre on August 30, 1813, at Fort Mims, thirty- 

 five miles north of Mobile, Ala. At the out- 

 break of the Creek War 553 men, women and 

 children had assembled in the garrison for 

 protection. They were attacked by a large 

 band of savages and in spite of their brave 

 resistance all but fifteen were killed. 



FORT MONROE or FOR 'TRESS MONROE, 

 a fort on Old Point Comfort, at the mouth of 

 the James River, Virginia, commanding the 

 entrance to Hampton Roads. It is the head- 

 quarters of the coast defenses of Chesapeake 

 Bay, and is the location of one of the largest 

 military posts in the United States. It occu- 

 pies a reservation of 282 acres ceded by Vir- 

 ginia in 1818 to the Federal government. 



FORT MOULTRIE, mohl'tri, a fort on Sulli- 

 van Island, at the main entrance to Charleston 

 Harbor, South Carolina, formerly known as 

 Fort Sullivan. It was famous for its de- 

 fense against the British in the Revolutionary 

 War. In 1776* a force of English troops under 

 Sir Henry Clinton and a fleet under Sir Peter 

 Parker arrived at Charleston Harbor with the 

 intention of occupying Charleston and operat- 

 ing from there against the Southern colonies. 

 An American force of 6,500, under Colonel 

 Moultrie, was stationed at Fort Sullivan, at 

 the eastern end of Sullivan's Island, and suc- 

 cessfully defended Charleston. The Southern 

 states were thus temporarily freed from in- 

 vasion. The name of the fort was subsequently 

 changed to Fort Moultrie. On May 7, 1780, it 

 was seized by the British. At the outbreak of 



the War of Secession it was occupied by a 

 United States garrison, but fell into the hands 

 of the Confederates when Major Anderson 

 abandoned it for Fort Sumter in 1861. See 

 FORT SUMTER. 



FORT NIAG'ARA, a fort formerly at the 

 mouth of the Niagara River, on the American 

 side. La Salle built a rude structure here in 

 1669, and ten years later he constructed a 

 fortified trading post on the same site. In 

 1725 the Frenchman, Vaudreuil, erected Fort 

 Niagara, which soon became the most im- 

 portant military and trading center on the 

 Great Lakes. In 1759 it was attacked and 

 captured by the British under Sir William 

 Johnson, but was returned to the Americans 

 in 1796, in accordance with the treaty of 1783. 

 In 1813 it was attacked and captured by the 

 British, and again given back to the Americans 

 at the close of the War of 1812. In 1826 it 

 had ceased to be important as a military cen- 

 ter, and the United States troops were with- 

 drawn. Later it was demolished. 



FORT SCOTT, KAN., the county seat of 

 Bourbon County, in the southeastern part of 

 the state, is five miles west of the Missouri 

 state line and ninety-seven miles south of 

 Kansas City. It is on the Marmaton River, 

 and on the Saint Louis & Kansas City; the 

 Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the Missouri 

 Pacific railroads. The area is four square 

 miles. In 1910 the population was 10,463; in 

 1916 a Federal estimate gave 10,550. The 

 city has a Federal building, built in 1889 at a 

 cost of $120,000, a Carnegie Library and Mercy 

 Hospital. There are paved streets, three parks, 

 and splendid roads throughout the surrounding 

 country. Near the town is a national ceme- 

 tery. 



Fort Scott is the trade center for a rich 

 agricultural section, in which dairying is an 

 important industry. There is much mineral 

 wealth in the vicinity, including bituminous 

 coal, in which there is a large trade, oil and 

 gas, cement, rock, lead and zinc. Sulphur 

 water is obtained from artesian wells. The 

 principal industrial establishments are large 

 railroad shops, a syrup factory, an overall fac- 

 tory and manufactories of cement, pottery, 

 tile, leather goods and medicines. 



Fort Scott was established by the Federal 

 government in 1842 in what was then Indian 

 Territory. The fort was abandoned in 1855. 

 A settlement was organized in 1857, and it 

 became a city in 1860. The commission form 

 of government was adopted in 1914. H.A.K. 



