In the 1850s , Fort Snelling played a key role in the infamous Dred Scott court case . Slaves Dred Scott and his wife was taken to the fort by their master , John Emerson . They lived at the fort and elsewhere in territories where slavery was prohibited . After Emerson 's death , the Scotts argued that since they had lived in free territory , they was no longer slaves . Ultimately in 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court sided against the Scotts . This decision helped to fuel rancor over slavery leading to the Bleeding Kansas conflicts , the Panic of 1857 , and eventually the American Civil War .