Fort 1017
The “Fort” began in early October of 1996 as just another fort in the woods. In
elementary and middle school we had built several from time to time. However most
were tree forts and this was a little bit different. On the first day a location was spotted
for the fort, the brush was cleared in the middle of the woods and just 2x4s went into dug
holes. From that point the early construction continued into the next two months. The 5’
wide, 5.5’ long and only 5’ high room was labeled as the fort. In the spring of 1997 we
added wood putty to the side and placed the whole group of friend’s initials into it along
with the numbers 1017 which was the forts number (this was chosen because if there was
a house in this location it would have had the address of 1017 west). There was a spy
hole, shelves, and a trap door on the roof. Puberty quickly approached and it was evident
that the fort would need to be expanded if we wanted to camp and walk around in it. The
first expansion was just an extra 2.5 feet longer to give us some leg room. The third
expansion came the following year which added another 3 feet long and then a 12 foot
long hallway branched out of the fort to the right. The hallway was also a stairway that
allowed the fort to move down a 4 foot hill to the 2nd room. This room became known as
the “living area”. It was an 8’ wide and 8’ long room that was 6 feet tall. We often
camped inside this room. We poured concrete in the entire fort for a floor and added
carpet, an electrical system that had a radio with surround sound, CB radio, and lights run
off of a 12 volt tractor battery. Later we added some furniture and shelves. This was also
the sight of the famous camping adventure in late December of 2000. The ground was
covered with over 20” of snow from the rough winter and the temperatures were expected
to drop down to the single digits. Preparations were made all day long to insulate the fort
and even light a durra flame log to keep us warm at night. The preparations failed and
temperatures dropped to -13 degrees that night. The insulating only kept the fort about 5
degrees warmer. It was the coldest night in a decade but Tony, Zack and myself lived to
tell the tale. The fort got a pet or decoration piece depending on how you look at it. A
mounted elk was brought down to the fort and placed near the entrance. This was great
for parties! During this same year the fort advanced once again going through a newly
built hallway and onto a bridge that towered 11’ over the ground below. The final room
of the fort was the octagon on the other side of the bridge. It was built on top of stilts and
had a wooden floor and an 8’ roof. After the final construction was done the fort
contained 3 rooms, 2 hallways, and one long and tall bridge. It was 370 square feet and
visible from space.