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"The 1800s" is a very long period. The US Army over the course of that hundreds was, let's say, an incoherent institution. At it's largest, outside of wartime or reconstruction numbers, was about 28,000 men in the 1890s before the Spanish-American War. Its leadership, doctrine, political support, organization, standards of equipment and armament, all changed quite a lot between decades. The army very frequently relied on civilian contract work for labor, supply, and support (both civil and military, as cooperation with the militia was almost always necessary in western posts for even basic actions). One fort wasn't always built with the same purpose in mind, and methods of construction, choice of location, size, and defenses of forts would vary extremely depending on what they were built for. A fur trade post or a coach road station would differ from an armory which would differ from a temporary fortification, which would differ from a coastal battery, which would differ from a reservation fort... you get the idea here.

Even the definition of "out west" would change quite a lot in the century: before the 1820s or so, the west would likely mean "The Old Northwest", or the area around the Great Lakes and the Ohio River Valley maybe inching out to the Mississippi. In fact, it wasn't until 1819 that the US Army built the post that became Fort Snelling, in the upper waters of the Mississippi. While there were some forts around the Great Lakes that were built in the century, the vast majority were much older, and had been built (and rebuilt) on strategic or prominent points by the French or the British before the United States got there. The forts at Detroit and Michilimackinac had both existed for close to a hundred years by the start of the 19th century, and in 1803 the US Army fortified an old French fur trade post in what became Chicago.

If there's a pattern to any of this, it's generally that the fort is one of the last things to arrive, lagging behind local indigenous people, traders and explorers, settlers and adventurers. Forts are a pin on a map, a way to extend authority and bring "order" to regions that had been touched by no law but custom.

All that said. You're an army officer, ordered to build a fort. To cut out some confusion and complexity here, let's pin it down to specifics. It's 1819, and you've been ordered to build a military post in the mouth of the Mississippi River.

In 1819, it's likely that you'd have graduated from West Point, and while the curriculum under superintendent Alden Partridge would have been scattershot to say the least, you'd likely have studied engineering and surveying heavily, when you weren't just hanging out in an officer's country club. It's also possible that you had a civilian background before joining the army. But also, by 1819, the ground you're building the fort on would have at least been broadly surveyed, and in fact this region had been surveyed by Zebulon Pike, just following the Louisiana Purchase in 1805. And, like should be expected, even in 1805, people were already living there.

[Pike] heard of permanent trading posts on the south side of Lake Superior and at the headwaters of the St. Croix River; and he saw at Lower Red Cedar Lake, Sandy Lake, and Leech Lake the rude stockades and log buildings which were called forts.

Luckily (for the army), Pike had also been ordered to get permission from the local Sioux to buy the land there, specifically for the purpose of erecting the fort. Pike reported that he paid $200 and sixty gallons of liquor to several unnamed "chiefs," and a later appropriation of $2000 completed the purchase. So the land is owned by the United States, has been surveyed, and there are some likely spots for a decent fortification already.

Armed with copies of Pike's reports and any charts that may have been drawn from it, you would ready yourself and your men for travel. But a lot has happened in the upper Mississippi since 1805. A war, for one, that had included Ojibwe and Sioux from this region, who had accompanied British agents in the capture of another American fort at Mackinac. The treaties that ended the War of 1812 made a tenuous peace in the region, but nothing guarantees that your greeting would be friendly. Indiana and Illinois had become states, and the westward crawl of what you consider civilization is ongoing. Friction with the region's native inhabitants was expected, but your mission is, to some extent, humanitarian: the establishment of a fort was meant to curtail the injurious influence of the British fur traders, who had made it a habit of trading liquor and guns and encouraging native resistance to American progress (ignore that Pike gave sixty gallons of liquor in 1805). The post would be a meeting place, like Mackinac, not like the forts along the Ohio River that Wayne had built to project American muskets into the forests and valleys. A consistent presence meant that Americans and Native Americans could learn to live with and respect one another, finally free from the engines of war and politics that had driven previous Indian wars with the United States.

Whether you believe any of this or not is not really the point, but it's important to note that, at least at this stage of westward expansion, the open hostility that characterized the latter half of the century wasn't quite inevitable. There were still voices in the American government who saw the Mississippi as the border of the nation, and who believed that the continent was too big to totally dominate. The notion of "manifest destiny" had not yet been clearly articulated, and was not yet a part of the emerging American political landscape.

In any case, you have a lot to prepare for. Even getting to the Upper Mississippi would be difficult, as in 1819 there are as yet no trains or extensive canal systems to make travel easy. Pike had traveled by canoe and portage with a small party and with guides, and had already had extensive prior knowledge (Pike had, in fact, "shadowed" a French expedition into the region in 1796). You would likely lack most of this. The army would try to furnish guides and knowledgeable locals as much as possible. But thanks to the groundwork laid by nearly two hundred years of fur trade, your trip would be mostly waterborne.

On the tenth of February, 1819, the War Department ordered the Fifth Infantry (that's you) to concentrate at Detroit, after which it would be transported across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, up the Fox River, [020] and down the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien, where a part would garrison Fort Crawford, a part would proceed to Fort Armstrong, and the remainder would ascend the Mississippi and near the Falls of St. Anthony erect a post which would be the headquarters of the regiment.

This sounds tidy, on paper, but remember that the entire United States Army in 1819 is less than 20,000 men. Most posts around the country hold a company or two. An entire regiment, such as the 5th US Infantry, not only needs to assemble its men, but also deal with the fact that its commandant - in this case, "you:" Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth, were at Prairie du Chien in Wisconsion, hundreds of miles away from the bulk of the regiment, whose companies were scattered all across the Old Northwest. But the trip, for the most part, goes smoothly: your men are ferried by lake schooners and river bateaux, the route prepared by other small garrisons of other small army posts. Departing Detroit in May, they arrive near the intended country in June, and intend to take their bateaux up the Fox River, where you are sent a message by a local luminary:

The Winnebago chief "Four Legs", whose village was at the outlet of Lake Winnebago, had the custom of exacting tribute from travellers using the Fox-Wisconsin route. When the troops of the Fifth Infantry came to the site, "Four Legs" sent the message, "The Lake is locked." Whereupon Colonel Leavenworth, showing the messenger his rifle, replied: "tell him, that this is the key, and I shall unlock it and go on." Upon receiving this belligerent reply, the chief allowed the troops to pass; and finally on June 30th the bateaux were moored near Fort Crawford and Prairie du Chien.

(That, or you made a declaration of peace and brotherhood, and Four Legs was satisfied to let you pass, with a pleasant speech. "My brother, do you see the calm, blue sky above us? Do you see the lake that lies so peacefully at our feet? So calm, so peaceful are our hearts towards you. Pass on!")

The wait at Fort Crawford is long and tedious. Supplies for the fort are intended to come up from St. Louis. They are expected in mid July, but day after day brings no sight of canoe or overloaded bateaux, nothing until the end of July. Finally in early August, they arrive, but with fewer supplies than expected and no recruits. Still, there's much to be done.

Colonel Leavenworth at once made preparations to ascend the river. The two large boats that had brought up supplies were engaged, and at eight o'clock on the morning of Sunday, August 8th, the flotilla set out—the two large boats, fourteen bateaux, the boat of Major Forsyth, and the barge of Colonel Leavenworth. In the party were ninety-eight soldiers and twenty boatmen. There were others also whose presence in that wild region would [023] not be expected: Mrs. Gooding, the wife of one of the captains; Mrs. Nathan Clark, the wife of the commissary; and little Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark, who had been born scarcely an hour after the regiment reached Fort Crawford. The knowledge that they were upon the last stage of their journey caused a feeling of cheerfulness among the soldiers, and the first day they proceeded a distance of eighteen miles.

The trip lasts sixteen days, and frequent stops are made at indigenous villages to distribute gifts and to announce the friendly intentions of the expedition.

Continued below.