Fort Seward Wagon Train brings pioneer history to Jamestown

The Fort Seward Wagon Train filled the 2026 Independence Trail before the first wagon rolled from 615 10th Avenue Northwest in Jamestown. The weeklong run took participants through June 21-27 on a route built around North Dakota pioneer travel, with walkers, covered wagons and horseback riders moving from stop to stop across the prairie.

Fort Seward, Inc. is the nonprofit formed by local citizens to preserve, protect and promote Fort Seward and North Dakota history. The wagon train has continued since a one-time outing in 1969 became an annual event.

No horse is required, and participants can join as walkers, wagon riders or saddle-horse riders. The train also includes camping, history talks, nature lore and stops at known historic sites along the route, including marked and unmarked places that tie the trail to the region’s frontier past. Registration for 2026 closed after the trail filled, and a 2027 wait list is available through the Fort Seward Wagon Train website.

A recent route covered 87.5 miles along Pipestem Reservoir and Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, while earlier descriptions of the trail put the week’s mileage at roughly 75 to 85 miles. For this year’s ride, registration fees were listed at $195 for children 3 and under, $390 for ages 4 to 12, $475 for ages 13 to 18 and $595 for adults 19 and older.

Fort Seward was an active military post from 1872 to 1877, first called Camp Sykes, then Fort Cross, and renamed Fort Seward in 1873. It was built to help protect Northern Pacific Railroad crews at the James River crossing, and materials from the dismantled Fort Ransom were used in its construction after railroad protection became the Army’s higher priority.

Fort Seward now includes an interpretive center, artifacts from archaeological digs, a computer kiosk tour and North Dakota’s largest U.S. flag.