In 1814, Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Ghent. Article nine of the teary called for an immediate end to the hostilities between the United States and "all the Tribes or Nations of Indians". The article also called for the restoration of all possessions, rights and privileges that the Tribes or Nations enjoyed prior to the War of 1812. President Madison in compliance with the treaty, renewed former treaties with tribes in the Northwest and along the Mississippi, but citing the on-going conflict of the Creek Civil war, Madison forced the Creek Indians to cede 21 million acres of land in Southern Georgia and Central Alabama. Very quickly, despite the treaty of Ghent, the Indian tribes were being driven west of the Mississippi river. In his first State of the Union Address, President James Monroe explained to Congress and the American people how the Indian removal policies, which he called "liberal and humane" were also in the interest of America's security. With the nation, now extending all the way to the Mississippi river on the West and the Great Lakes in the North, the interior of the country was now protected by a "strong barrier, consisting of our own people". There were now miles of land on the frontier between the Indian tribes, and the densely populated states, and the Mississippi River, the Mobile River and the Great Lakes formed natural borders, that could be easily protected from any Indian hostilities. Forced across the Mississippi and without the support of the British soldiers who had armed them during the War of 1812, the Indians were no match for the military strength of the United States. President Monroe explained that since the Indians had only basic firearms, and easily shunned by the cannon power that the United States now possessed, only basic fortifications would be necessary.
With this in mind, the United States built a number of frontier forts along the Mississippi river. One such fort was Fort Crawford, built on an island in the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. The first fort was built in 1816 in honor of William H. Crawford, the Secretary of War under James Madison. Fort Crawford was built of oak logs, in a square form with two block houses each containing a 12 pound and a six pound cannon. According to initial reporting, the fort could accommodate 400 men and was capable of defending itself against any combined Indian attack, but not against any Artillery. Because, such moderate works were all that was needed along the Rivers and Great Lakes, the country could focus their resources on what Monroe called the "Great fortifications" needed along the coasts from the Bay of Fundy (Maine) to the Mississippi River (New Orleans). Along the coasts, the nation already had plans for a very ambitious seacoast defensive system, known as the "third seacoast defense system". These forts were large structured with many guns concentrated in tall, thick masonry walls. It was on these that Monroe wanted to reserve our "utmost attention, skill, and labor".
"Among the advantages incident to these purchases, and to those which have preceded, the security which may thereby be afforded to our inland frontiers is peculiarly important. With a strong barrier, consisting of our own people, thus planted on the Lakes, the Mississippi, and the Mobile, with the protection to be derived from the regular force, Indian hostilities, if they do not altogether cease, will henceforth lose their terror. Fortifications in those quarters to any extent will not be necessary, and the expense of attending them may be saved. A people accustomed to the use of firearms only, as the Indian tribes are, will shun even moderate works which are defended by cannon. Great fortifications will therefore be requisite only in future along the coast and at some points in the interior connected with it. On these will the safety of our towns and the commerce of our great rivers, from the Bay of Fundy to the Mississippi, depend. On these, therefore, should the utmost attention, skill, and labor be bestowed."http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29459
http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Crawford_(1)
Old Fort Crawford, 1816- 1856 by Bruce E. Mahan (State University of Iowa Theses and Dissertations) pgs 22-24
http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4178&context=etd
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Fort_Marr.JPG (picture)
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