At Historic Fort Snelling, the Minnesota Historical Society axes the ‘B’ word

In 2019, the Minnesota Historical Society put up a temporary sign reading” “Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote” at the historic site. Some people just lost it.

Defenders of 19th Century sensibilities reacted in horror at the “B” word. One elected official threatened to cut the Minnesota Historical Society’s state funding over “at Bdote.”

Fast forward three years. I had forgotten all about this controversy. On Thursday, I learned the Minnesota Historical Society’s governing board voted to stick with the traditional “Historic Fort Snelling” name, offering a fuzzy explanation why.