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PIECE OF A U.S. FLAG FROM THE FRONTIER US ARMY FORT PEMBINA, NORTH DAKOTA

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This piece of bunting comes from excavations at Fort Pembina, ND, conducted on private property with the owner’s permission, a fort established in 1870 by troops of the 20^th US Infantry and garrisoned until 1895. Cloth items recovered were in a remarkable state of preservation from the anaerobic conditions of the dig. This is very unusual in being the remnant of a bunting U.S. flag, with the colors now showing simply as gray and black from the soil conditions of the dig. We have seen kepis, blankets, pieces of uniforms, mittens, campaign hats, even underwear and shirts, but this is the first fragment of flag we have seen. The use of bunting rather than silk, points to something like a garrison flag in our opinion, but the dig has revealed an incredible variety of material- US issue and private purchase. That it was simply discarded rather than more ceremoniously disposed of probably speaks to the less sentimental and more practical nature of the soldiers at the post.

Situated in the Red River Valley in North Dakota near the Canadian border, Fort Pembina was established in 1870 and in operation until 1895. Trading posts existed earlier in the area as part of the fur trade, and the first U.S. military post there was temporary- manned by a detachment of Minnesota troops in 1863-1864 following the 1862 Sioux uprising. In March 1870 a new fort was established south of the Pembina River and about 200 yards west of the Red River, completed by July and named in honor of Gen. George H. Thomas. The name was changed to Fort Pembina in September and the initial garrison consisted of two companies of the 20^th US Infantry. Their main duty was to provide security for settlers worried about Sioux returning south from Canada, but the troops were more occupied with escorting boundary surveys along the Canadian border and preventing Fenian raids heading north into Canada.

The fort included enlistedmen’s barracks, officers’ quarters, guard house, ordnance storehouse, company kitchen, root house, laundress’s quarters, quarters for civilian employees, hospital and hospital servant’s house, a barn for the “hospital cow,” quartermaster and commissary offices and storehouse, stables, wagon shed, etc. The garrison reached peak strength in 1878 af 200, but the average was about 125 enlisted men and 8 officers. An October 1885 return listed 97 men, 2 field pieces, 1 mountain howitzer, 100 rifles, 19 pistols, 23 mules, and 9 wagons. By 1890 the post had just 23 men, and after an 1895 fire destroyed some 19 buildings it was decided to abandon the fort rather than rebuild, the last detachment left in September. The property was turned over to the Interior Department and later sold in 1902.

This is in remarkably good condition for an excavated piece, very displayable and has a tight provenance to an Indian War post garrisoned by the U.S. army for a well-defined period that encompasses the 1870s and 1880s Indian Wars.  [sr][ph:L]

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