White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-08-06
The Flag Rises Again Over Tort Dearborn

The agitation produced by the War depa =
ments announcement and the wide publicity
given to the case of Fort Abraham Lincoln has
served the useful purpose of recalling to Ameri
cans the part played by forts in history
and it has also brought forth the fact that more
of them are being preserved in one form or
another than is generally realized. In some cases
their ruins are being preserved memorials
are being used the basis for reconstruction
work in other cases exact replicas of the orig
inal Notifications have been built and in still
others monuments great boulders bearing
appropriately engraved bronze tablets have been
erected on their Sites The list is so long that
only few examples can be given.
Perhaps the outstanding example of
struction of a historic fort is that of Ticon-
deroga on the shores of Lake George in New
York The preservation of this place. so rich in
it's memories of colonial and Revolutionary
history, is due to the patriotic spirit of an indi-
vidual, Stephen H. P. Pell of New York, in
whose family the land upon which Ticonderoga
stands has been owned for many years Much
has been done to restore Ticonderoga to it's
original state and the work is still going on.
Illinois contribution to preserving the memo
ry of her frontier outposts the dedication
last summer of q replica of Fort Dearborn
which is to be one of the buildings for the Cen
fury of Progress exposition in Chicago in 1888
Skyscrapers now stand the original site Of
Fort Dearborn so the replica was built along
the lake shore on made land" which is pushing
the shore line out into Lake Michigan. The lit
tie palisaded structure, which offers such
striking contrast to the tall buildings of stone
and steel which make up Chcago's skyline,
stands not far from the scene of the historic
Fort Dearborn massacre of 1872 when the gar
rison of the fort attacked and most Of
them killed by hostile Indians after they had
evacuated the fort and started on their fateful
retreat to Fort Wayne, Ind
This replica not only recalls the most thrill
ing incident in the history of Americas second
largest city but it also preserves the memory
of the man whose name it bears, an important
figure in the early days of the republic who
is little known to most Americans-Gen Henry
Dearborn Born in New Hampshire in 1851,
Dearborn studied medicine and became a doc
tor but abandoned his profession at the out
break of the Revolution to raise force Of
volunteers He fought at Bunker Hill. accom-
panied Arnold on the expedition to Quebec
where he was captured. After being exchanged
he entered the service again, fought at Mon
mouth, accompanied Sullivan the expedition
against the Iroquois and was present at the sur
render of Corvallis After the he
twice elected to congress and in 1901 Jefferson
made him secretary of war, a position which
he held for eight years. At the outbreak of the
War of 1912 Colonel Dearborn was again in
military service and was commissioned major
general in the American army He captured
York in Upper Canada and Fort George and
after the war commanded the military district
of New York Monroe made him minister to
Portugal and after two years he resigned and
returned home, dying in Massachusetts in 1929.
Out in the West where pioneer history
more recent affair than it in the East
and Middle West there many evidences of
desire to preserve the historic forts and recon-
str,lct them while vestges of them still
remain In Kansas there is agitation to recon
struct Fort Aubrey, one of the pioneer sod forts
on the Arkansas river and make 1t public
mark Colorado is busy with it's plans for the
reconstruction of Bent's fort near Lamar, the
post whose history is veritable summary Of
the historic Santa Fe Trail