Editing Fort Ransom, North Dakota (section)

==History==
[[File:Northern Plains Overland Trails 1866-1877 map on display at the Fort Totten Historic Site.jpg|thumb|Northern Plains Overland Trails 1866-1877 map on display at the Fort Totten Historic Site]]
The Fort Ransom Military Post was established in 1867.  It was built to protect settlers and railroad workers who were working on the Northern Pacific Railroad between [[Fargo, North Dakota|Fargo]] and [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]].  It was named for distinguished Civil War veteran Major General [[Thomas E.G. Ransom]].  The fort was built on top of Grizzly Bear Hill, a site chosen by Brigadier General [[Alfred Terry|Alfred H. Terry]].{{cn|date=August 2023}}

Fort Ransom was dismantled in 1872 and the materials were used to build [[Fort Seward (North Dakota)|Fort Seward]] at [[Jamestown, North Dakota]], in Stutsman County. The army had determined that protection of the Northern Pacific Railroad crew at the James River crossing was a higher priority than protecting the overland route. The final disposition of the military reservation took place on July 14, 1880, when it was turned over to the Department of Interior for survey and sale to homesteaders.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fortransomnd.com/historic.html |title=History - Fort Ransom |access-date=January 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515070040/http://www.fortransomnd.com/historic.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The original site of the fort is located to the southwest of the town of Fort Ransom and three miles south of [[Fort Ransom State Park]].