Ground Penetrating Radar and Ground Truthing Jefferson Davis’s Map of Fort Winnebago

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1828 Fort Winnebago was built as the third U.S. Army fort in Wisconsin. The three forts were built to guard the Fox and Wisconsin River waterways which connect the Atlantic’s Saint Lawrence Seaway to New Orleans. Fort Winnebago overlooked the single portage on that route. The fort other purpose was to protect American traders after the Winnebago War of 1827. Jefferson Davis, future Secretary of War and Confederate President was a young Lieutenant at the fort. While there, he mapped the fort and nearby buildings. The fort was said to have burned down and the site thought to be disturbed in a plowed field. Using the surviving fort well and the extant off-site Surgeons quarters as locational references, Davis’ map was overlaid on an aerial photo of the site. Ground penetrating radar surveys verify its location and ground truthing show that up to 90% of the forts footprint still exists.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• 2025 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow