In 1857, Franklin Steele of St. Anthony, afterwards Min- 

 neapolis, formed a corporation to purchase the reservation 

 from the government. The secretary of war offered $90,000 

 for the buildings and reserve. It afterwards developed that 

 the secretary of war was one of the purchasers, acting by a 

 proxy. On May 27, 1858, the troops were withdrawn and the 

 post was abandoned for all military purposes by the United 

 States government. There was no sale for real estate at this 

 time, so Mr. Steele put a herd of sheep on his newly acquired 

 property, using the walls of the fort for a corral and herding 

 his charges in the buildings at night. 



When war was declared in 1861, there was no place for 

 the mobilization and drilling of the different Minnesota regi- 

 ments. Governor Ramsey, after a conference with Mr. Steele, 

 gained permission to use the old reservation and buildings 

 for that purpose, and it was here that all the regiments of the 

 state received their initial training. 



The matter of Steele's contract was unsettled long after the 

 war was over, and congress finally passed an act for a com- 

 mission to arrange the terms of settlement. The corporation 

 had purchased sixty-five hundred acres, and when an agree- 

 ment was reached, the government decided to reserve fifteen 

 hundred and thirty-one acres, allowing the owners the dif- 

 ference, which cost them about nine dollars an acre, being far 

 below the real value of the property. 



The garrison has in later years been a hospital quarters for 

 regiments which have seen foreign service and have been 

 quartered here to recuperate. At the present day, the reser- 

 vation is sadly run down. The buildings, which were struck 

 by a storm some two years ago, have never been repaired, the 

 grass grows long and unkempt on the parade ground, and an 

 air of general desolation prevails. In the last fews weeks, 

 the land was advertised as being open for sheep grazing, 

 which aroused a storm of protest from both the cities of 

 Minneapolis and St. Paul, which was the reason, no doubt, 

 that no bids were received. It is doubtful what will eventually 

 be done with this interesting spot but it should not be allowed 

 to deteriorate as it is doing, lying as it does in the front yard 

 of two great cities. 



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