The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-08-14
The Flag Rises A9ain Over Fort Dearbon

appropriately engraved bronze tablets have been
erected their sites. The list is so long that
only few examples can be given.
Perhaps the outstanding example of recon-
struction Of historic fort is that of Ticon-
deroga the shores of Lake George in New
York. The preservation of this place, rich in
its memories of colonial and Revolutionary war
history is due to the patriotic spirit of an indi-
vidual, Stephen HI. 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.
Kentucky and Illinois have perhaps the two
outstanding examples of preserving the memo
ries of it's forts by building exact replicas of
the posts themselves. The visitor to Harrods-
burg KY. will find there pasaded structure
of logs, surrounding group of log cabins, with
its blockhouses at the corners and when he
steps through the great gate and enters the
enclosure it is easy to cOnjure up the figures
of James Harrod and Daniel Boone and Simon
Kenton and George Rogers Clark all of whom
had a part in the stirring history of Fort
Harrod.
Harrodsburg the first and only perma-
nent British-American colonial settlement west
of the Alleghenies. Capt. James Harrod and
band of 81 men selected the eminence which aft
erward became Fort Harrod a camping place
they laid out town, which the British
Union Jack was flown After the pioneers re-
turned from Lord Dunmore's war, they erected
a stOckade of logs, which included homes. a
schoolhouse and elevated blockhouses which
commanded every approach.
Fort Harrod and the land surrounding it is
state park Just outside the stockade stands
the log cabin in which the parents of Abraham
Lincoln were married. 1t stood originally in
burg several years ago. Last summer this lit
tie log cabin which has been surrounded with
brick temple was dedicated as a Lincoln
shrine by the citizens Of his native state.
Illinois contribution to preserving the memo
ry Of her frontier outposts was the dedication
last summer of a 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 on 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 a
striking contrast to the tall buildings of stone
and steel which make up Chicagos skyline,
stands not far from the scene of the historic
Fort Dearborn massacre of 1912 when the gar
rison of the fort was 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 1751,
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 captured. After being exchanged
he entered the service again, fought at Mon
mouth. accompanied Sullivan on the expedition
render of CORVALLIS. After the war he was
twice elected to congress and in 1901 Jefferson
made him secretary of war; 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 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 was
more recent affair than it in the East
and Middle West, there are many evidences of
desire to preserve the historic forts and recon-
struct them while some vestiges of them still
remain. In Kansas there is agitation to recon-
struct Fort Aubrey, one of the pioneer sod forts