ing cannon if needful, the walls were
unprovided with those weapons; and the only piece of ordnance that I
detected out of the magazine, was an old churn thrust gallantly through
one of the embrasures. We were however far from complaining of the extra
expense and taste which the worthy officer whose name it bears had
expended on the erection of Fort Snelling, as it is in every way an
addition to the sublime landscape in which it is situated."[203]

But an examination of the contents of the magazine would have revealed
weapons more formidable than churns. Among the equipment reported in
1834 one reads of two iron twelve-pounder cannon of the garrison
type; three six-pounder iron cannon of the field type; and two five and
eight-tenths inch iron howitzers. There was also equipment for these
pieces of artillery--carriages, sponges and rammers, lead aprons, dark
lanterns, gunners' belts, gunners' haversacks, and tarpaulins. There
were stored ready for service, 440 balls for the twelve-pounders, 1255
balls for the six-pounders, 546 pounds of mixed loose grapeshot, and
many other sizes of strapped and canister shot. For the use of the
infantry there were 7749 musket flints, 1825 pounds of musket powder,
1513 pounds of rifle powder, 31,390 cartridges, and 2047 blank
cartridges.[204]

Other structures closely connected with the work of the fort were
located outside the wall. The buildings of the Indian agency were
situated a quarter of a mile west, on the prairie.[205] These consisted
of a council house, the agent's house, and an armorer's shop. The
original council house was built by the troops in 1823, but Agent
Taliaferro claimed that most of the inside work was done at his own
expense. The building was of logs and stone, eighty-two feet long,
eighteen feet wide, and presenting in the front a piazza of seventy
feet. Within, there were six rooms, lined with pine planking and
separated from each other by panel doors.[206]

At one o'clock on the morning of August 14, 1830, the sentinels at the
fort discovered that the council house was on fire. But the flames had
gained so much headway that it was impossible to save any of the
contents. The interpreter and his family who lived in this building
barely escaped with their lives. In reporting the loss to the
superintendent, Major Taliaferro wrote that "the general impression here
is that fire was put to the house by Some drunken Indians &
circumstances are strong in justifying s