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OLD FORT MADISONPRESERVATION

The Fort

Timeline

The life of the fort by date, from the 1808 founding to the present day.

Showing 9 of 9 entries.

  1. 1808Founding

    The fort is built

    First Lieutenant Alpha Kingsley begins construction of the first permanent United States military post on the Upper Mississippi. The soldiers first call it Fort Bellevue, then rename it for President James Madison.

  2. 1809Early conflict

    First storming turned back

    In April, a war party attempts to storm the fort and is turned back by the threat of cannon fire. The Sauk (Sac), Meskwaki (Fox), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) all hold claims to this country, and the peace around the post is already thin.

  3. March 1812War of 1812

    The war reaches the fort

    As tensions with Britain rise toward war, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) warriors attack the fort and two soldiers are killed. Many Native nations in the region are allied with the British.

  4. September 1812War of 1812

    The great siege

    More than two hundred Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Sauk (Sac), and Meskwaki (Fox) warriors surround the fort and nearly overrun it. It is saved when cannon fire destroys a fortified position near the walls. The Sauk leader Black Hawk takes part and later claims he shot down the fort's flag.

  5. 1813War of 1812

    Cut off, burned, abandoned

    A determined siege cuts the garrison off from its firewood. In September the soldiers burn the fort, slip out after dark through a trench to the river, and escape by boat. Black Hawk later says nothing remains but the chimneys.

  6. 1965Rediscovery

    The fort found again

    Archaeological work in the Sheaffer Pen Company parking lot uncovers the fort's central blockhouse and the foundations of the officers' quarters, still in place beneath the pavement.

  7. 1973Rediscovery

    National Register listing

    The site is added to the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its place in the early history of the country.

  8. Mid-1980sReconstruction

    Rebuilt by volunteers

    A replica of the fort is built near the original site, much of it by volunteers, including inmates from the Iowa State Penitentiary.

  9. TodayLiving history

    A site on the riverfront

    Old Fort Madison is a living-history site with tours, reenactments, and education programs. A $3.5 million capital campaign is underway to raise the site above the flood plain, preserve it, and add a new Welcome Center/Living History Center.

Read the full historyThe War of 1812 sieges