The Old Guard

Fort Pike
New Orleans, LA, USA
October 2016

The fort is built in the Rigolets a few yards away from the bank, which was within walking distance of the bridge pictured here. Fort Pike was used to house prisoners of the Seminole Wars of Removal of 1835-58 and then later as a training site for the United States Colored Troops around 1864. There aren't a whole lot of signs at the actual fort, so much of what I've learned about it has come from the internet after I visited the place. There are a couple of plaques on-site that pay respect to the Native Americans held prisoner at the fort. The whole structure is in bad shape, with cracks in the brick walls inside and out, muddy floors where flooding has occurred, and structural supports -- like the ones shown here -- that keep the corners of the fort from collapsing. It was an interesting place to visit, explore and photograph.