Fort Koshkonong (Fort Cosconong) was a military fort located near the present-day city of

Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin Fort Atkinson is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. It is on the Rock River, a few miles upstream from Lake Koshkonong. The population was 12,579 at the 2020 census. Fort Atkinson is the largest city located entirely in Jeffers ...

. Intended to control the confluence of the Bark and

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

rivers, it was used as a station for local militia units and the U.S. regulars in the region to scout the British Band, a group of Native Americans who fought against government units during the 1832

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Henry Atkinson was the commander of the fort during the war.Fort Koshkonong Historical Marker - Wisconsin Historical Markers on Waymarking.com
/ref> Black Hawk was in the same general area, but evaded capture and started to flee towards the Wisconsin River. The original fort was abandoned by the Army following the conflict. Local settlers dismantled it for the wood as the town developed. Today the fort's original location along the Rock River is marked with a monument. The city built a replica of the fort during the Great Depression of the 1930s as a

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 ...

(WPA) project funded by the President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

administration. Its overall size is somewhat larger than the original fort, but provides a representation of how it looked during the Black Hawk War. Fort Koshkonong shares its name with

Lake Koshkonong Lake Koshkonong is a naturally occurring lake that acts as a reservoir in southern Wisconsin. Its size was augmented by the creation of the Indianford Dam in 1932, making it one of the larger lakes in the state. The lake lies along the Rock Rive ...

, which is several miles downriver. Very shallow, the lake at the time of the fort's activity was more of a marsh with the river flowing through it. It increased in size when the river was dammed and is one of the larger lakes in Wisconsin in acreage. The Fort was located at . The replica is located about a mile and a half west in Rock River Park at .

Notes

{{Black Hawk War (1832) Koshkonong Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Wisconsin Koshkonong 1832 establishments in Michigan Territory 1832 disestablishments in Michigan Territory