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This Day in Minnesota History

January 10, 1820

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Colonel Josiah Snelling lays the cornerstone of Fort St. Anthony, which would later bear his name as Fort Snelling. Snelling had chosen to build a stone fort rather than the typical wooden structure, in part because there was not enough wood available in the immediate area and in part because the fort was to sit on a limestone bluff. His choice would prove troublesome: while many of his soldiers were familiar with carpentry, few had any experience with stonemasonry.

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