Fort Renville, originally called Fort Adam, was a fur-trading post established by Joseph Renville and built in 1826. The fort was used as a trading post for the

Columbia Fur Company Columbia Fur Company was a fur trading and Indian trading business active from 1821 to 1827, in Michigan Territory and in the unorganized territory of the United States. It then became the Upper Missouri Outfit of the American Fur Company. Format ...

, which was later purchased by the

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British ...

. The American Fur Company continued to use the post until 1846, when it moved to another site. There are no visible remains at its site, a half mile from the

Lac qui Parle Mission Lac qui Parle Mission is a pre-territorial mission in Chippewa County, Minnesota, United States, which was founded in June 1835 by Dr. Thomas Smith Williamson and Alexander Huggins after fur trader Joseph Renville invited missionaries to the area ...

, in

Lac qui Parle State Park Lac qui Parle State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, near Watson. ''Lac qui Parle'' is a French translation of the native Dakota name, meaning "talking lake". The state park was built as part of the Lac qui Parle Flood Control ...

near

Watson, Minnesota Watson is a city in Chippewa County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 205 at the 2010 census. Lac Qui Parle State Park is nearby. History Watson was platted in 1879 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city took its ...

, United States. It was a significant post during the fur-trading years, but fell out of use after Renville's death in 1846. The site has been damaged by flooding and is now held in preservation by the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before state ...

. It is not open to the public. There is an overlook of the site with a sign detailing a brief history of the fur-trading post for visitors.

Excavations

1940

In 1940, the site was partly excavated by

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. Only a map, four photographs, and approximately 50 artifacts remain from this work.

1968

A second excavation was conducted by the

in 1968 to reexamine the previous work on the site and to complete the excavation. The remains of a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade ...

with a singular

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

, a watchtower, four buildings, and some trash pits were uncovered. Some of the building on the site include a trader's house, the cabin of missionary Thomas Williamson, and a storehouse.

References

{{Coord, 45, 1, 56.5, N, 95, 52, 42.5, W, display=title Renville Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota state historic sites Pre-statehood history of Minnesota 1826 establishments in the United States Fur trade Trading posts in the United States