SETTING
THE SCENE
A Self-Guided Tour
L
B
Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter
VISIT THE SITES OF
THE U.S.-DAKOTA CONFLICT
Begin your tour by taking Minnesota Highway 169 north from
7. REDWOOD FERRY Capt. John Marsh and interpreter Peter Quinn
Mankato along the beautiful Minnesota River Valley. You will
with 45 men on their way from Ft. Ridgely to the lower agency were
reach the site of the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
ambushed at Redwood Ferry on Aug. 18. Quinn and Marsh drowned
at the intersection of Minnesota highways 169 and 22 a half mile
and 23 other men were lost. A trail beginning at the stone
north of downtown St. Peter (14 miles north of Mankato).
warehouse at Lower Sioux Agency Historical Site ends at the ferry
From St. Peter head west to Fort Ridgely along either Highway
crossing site on the south side of the river. A large marker on the
22 or the Old Fort Road (County Hwy. 5). We recommend that you
north side of the river is on State Hwy. 19 north of Morton.
continue from Fort Ridgely to the Lower Sioux Agency at Morton,
8. BIRCH COULEE BATTLEFIELD STATE HISTORICAL SITE The heaviest U.S.
then on to the Upper Sioux Agency near Granite Falls and beyond
military casualties of the war were suffered
to Camp Release near Montevideo. This
on Sept. 2 at Birch Coulee, an area of deep
will be the farthest point of your tour.
ravines and rolling prairie still largely
Return along the river, taking in
unchanged
since 1862. About 170 of Col.
Redwood Falls, Sleepy Eye and New
Sioux
means
“snake”
or
“snakelike
enemy,”
a
name
Sibley’s
army,
sent out to bury the bodies
Ulm. From New Ulm return to Mankato.
given
to
the
Dakota
Nation
by
the
Ojibwe,
their
eneof
settlers
and
soldiers killed in the
Follow our map for these sites:
mies. Although Sioux is still in common usage, the
uprising, were taken by surprise in a camp
1. THE TREATY SITE HISTORY CENTER built in
name they give themselves, Dakota (or Lakota and
poorly selected for defense. Twenty-three
1994 by the Nicollet County Historical
Nakota in western dialects), meaning “friends” or “alsoldiers and two warriors were killed and
Society, interprets events leading up to the
lies,” is preferred. “Dakota Sioux” is redundant. Namany more were wounded on both sides.
treaty signing and subsequent results. It
tive American, Indian and American Indian may be
This state historic site is one mile north of
includes exhibits, archives and a gift shop.
used interchangeably. The Dakota Nation was made
Morton off U.S. Hwy. 71 on Renville County
The History Center is landscaped with
up of a number of subtribes. Those in Minnesota
Hwy. 2.
native prairie grasses and wildflowers.
were the Mdewakanton, Wahpeton, Sisseton, and
9. BIRCH COULEE MONUMENT A 52’ granite
In Treaty Site Park, foundation remains
Wahpekute, known as a group as the Santee (or Eastshaft
in memory of soldiers and citizens
of the village of Traverse des Sioux may be
ern) Dakota. West of Minnesota were the Yanktons
who
fought in battle, this monument
viewed. The Traverse des Sioux
and Yanktonais, and beyond the Missouri River were
surprisingly
is not on the battlefield but
Commemorative
Encampment,
a
the Tetons, divided into seven bands.
tucked
away
on a bluff overlooking the
rendezvous enactment of the 1850s,
town
of
Morton.
Take State Hwy. 19 to
complete with trappers, traders, settlers
Monument
Drive
at the east edge of
and Native Americans, was held in the park
town.
Follow
directional
signs up
annually.
Monument Drive to top of hill
2. OLD TRAVERSE DES SIOUX CEMETERY Four miles northwest of St. Peter
(gravel road).
on County Hwy. 20 is the final resting place of 12 missionaries to the
10. LOYAL INDIANS MONUMENT
Dakota.
Next to the Birch Coulee
3. NORSELAND A half mile east of the unincorporated community of
Monument, this marker
Norseland on Hwy. 22 is an Indian attack marker at the old Lutheran
honors six Dakota who saved
Cemetery. The general store in Norseland, founded in 1858, is still in
the lives of whites during the
operation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Conflict. It was erected in
1899.
4. THE OLD FORT ROAD County Hwy. 5 between Ft. Ridgely and St.
Myrick’s Trading Post Site
Stone Warehouse at the Lower Sioux Agency
Birch Coulee Monument in Morton
TERMINOLOGY
Peter follows the old Red River Ox Cart Train trail of the 1840s and
’50s and is still known locally as the Fort Road.
5. FORT RIDGELY STATE PARK & STATE HISTORIC SITE Unprotected by a
stockade and situated on an open prairie plateau, Ft. Ridgely was
not prepared to withstand attack. Fewer than 200 volunteer
soldiers and civilian refugees defended the fort in two battles that
turned the tide of the 1862 Conflict. The restored stone commissary
houses exhibits explaining Ft.
Ridgely’s history. Foundation
remains of officers’ quarters,
barracks, and other buildings
provide a vivid image of the
fort’s layout. A private
cemetery within the park
contains the graves of
many well-known pioneers. Open daily from
Memorial Day to Labor Day
closed Mondays, Tuesdays
and Sundays. The park is seven
miles south of Fairfax off State
Chief Little Crow
Hwy. 4.
6. LOWER SIOUX AGENCY STATE HISTORIC SITE A single stone warehouse
built in 1861, marks the site of the Agency, scene of the first
organized Indian attack in the War of 1862. A Minnesota Historical
Society interpretive center nearby tells the story of the Dakota’s
struggle in a time of drastic change. A number of markers in the
immediate vicinity denote locations of various trading posts.
Notable among them was the store of Andrew Myrick, most hated of
the traders. He refused the Indians credit remarking, “Let them eat
grass!” His corpse was found with grass stuffed in its mouth.Thirteen
people were killed in the initial attack on the agency, and seven
more lost their lives in flight. On Redwood County Hwy. 2, two miles
south of Morton.
Colonel
Henry H. Sibley
11. SCHWANDT MEMORIAL
A memorial to the Schwandt family
slain during the uprising. South of
County Rd. 15, west of Co. 21.
12. UPPER SIOUX AGENCY The Agency was established in 1854 near
the confluence of the Yellow Medicine and Minnesota Rivers as a
center for instructing the Dakota in the farming methods of white
settlers. The Agency never realized its mission. Most of the buildings
were destroyed in the Conflict. One remaining structure has been
reconstructed to its pre-1862 condition and the foundations of
other buildings are marked. Upper Sioux Agency State Park on State
Hwy. 67, nine miles south of Granite Falls.
13. PAJUTAZEE MISSION MARKER Established in 1852 by the Rev. T. S.
Williamson, a Presbyterian missionary, the mission and its school
were destroyed in the Conflict. The missionaries escaped with the
help of friendly Christian Indians. The mission marker is along Hwy.
67 about five miles southeast of Granite Falls.
Milford Monument
Lower Sioux Agency Interpretive Center
BLUE EARTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A publication of:
Foundations at Fort Ridgely
Greater Mankato Growth, Inc.
1961 Premier Drive, Suite 100
Mankato, MN 56001
507.385.6640 l 800.697.0652
greatermankato.com
Execution in Mankato
Birch Coulee Memorial
17. CAMP RELEASE MEMORIAL MONUMENT Sept. 26, 1862, the Dakota
19. MILFORD MONUMENT Eight miles west of New Ulm on
released 269 captives at this place about two miles west of
Montevideo on U.S. Hwy. 212. A 51-foot shaft marks the site. An
estimated 1,500 Dakota men, women and children surrendered to
Col. Sibley, who sent 396 men to the Lower Sioux Agency for trial.
Near Camp Release was Red Iron’s village. Red Iron, who opposed
the Conflict, encouraged other Dakota to protect white captives.
County Rd. 29, this granite monument commemorates the
deaths of 52 men, women and children of Milford Township
killed by the Dakota on August 18, 1862. The figure of a woman
symbolizes Memory.
18. GRAVE OF CHIEF SLEEPY EYES (Ish-Tak-Ha-Ba) Chief Sleepy Eyes
was a signer of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. A 50-foot granite
obelisk honors him at his gravesite at First Avenue NE & Oak St.,
near the City of Sleepy Eye’s historic depot museum. One block east
of the depot is a bronze eight-foot statue of the Chief by Dakota
sculptor JoAnne Bird. It was dedicated July 4, 1994.
20. ARMY RECRUITMENT BAND WAGON MARKER Several wagons
accompanied by a brass band left New Ulm on August 18 to
recruit volunteers for the Civil War. The procession was
ambushed at a bridge over a ravine five miles west of town.
Four members of the party were killed. The marker is one mile
east of the Milford Monument on County Rd. 29.
14. DONCASTER’S CEMETERY It is believed that at this point Little
Crow released his hostages and made his escape following the
Battle of Wood Lake. Many early settlers and Indians are buried in
the cemetery, on the north side of Co. Rd. 44.
For more information, visit our county historical museums, the Minnesota
Historical Society Museum in St. Paul and your local library for these
resources and many others:
OLD TRAVERSE DES SIOUX by Thomas Hughes. Herald Publishing Company,
15. HAZELWOOD MISSION MARKER The Rev. S. R. Riggs was pastor at
THE DAKOTA by Nancy Eubank. Roots,Vol. 12, No. 2, Winter 1984. The story of the
Eastern Dakota (Santee) from early times until today.
SIOUX UPRISING OF 1862 by Kenneth Carley. Minnesota Historical Society
Press, 1976. Details of the Dakota Conflict in words and pictures.
DAKOTA CONFLICT. KTCA 2, 1993. 60 min. A video documentary examining the
THROUGH DAKOTA EYES: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of
the Hazelwood Mission, established in 1854 and destroyed in the
Conflict. The mission featured a church, school and sawmill. The
Indians were taught to live in houses they built and to farm. The
marker is on Hwy. 274, four miles south of Granite Falls, near
Doncaster’s Cemetery.
events of August, 1862, including the historic relationship to the Traverse des
Sioux Treaty of 1851. Narrated by Garrison Keillor and Floyd Red Crow
Westerman. (Videocassette.)
16. WOOD LAKE STATE MONUMENT This site commemorates the Battle
the Dakota after the execution in Mankato, boarding school experiences and
their gradual return to Minnesota. Narrated by Robbie Robertson.
of Wood Lake, Sept. 23, 1862, between the forces of Col. Sibley and
Little Crow. It was the final battle of the U.S.-Dakota Conflict and led
to the freeing of captives at Camp Release. The granite structure is
on Yellow Medicine Co. Rd. 18 West of State Hwy. 67.
The
U.S.Dakota
Conflict
S
Signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux by Irvin D. Shope
of 1862
ong before Europeans made their first forays into the territory now known as Minnesota, Native American tribes
regularly crossed the Minnesota River at a fording place
14 miles north of the present city of Mankato, half a mile north
of St. Peter. Early French explorers gave the site its present name,
Traverse des Sioux (Crossing Place of the Sioux People).
The solid river bottom through shallow water provided a natural gateway between the dense woodlands on the east and the
prairies and bison on the west. As a well-travelled junction, it became a natural convergence point for commerce both for the Native Americans and for European traders and trappers.
By the 1820s, Louis Provencalle, a Frenchman working for
John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Co., had set up a permanent furtrading post at Traverse des Sioux. Soon a settlement sprang up
around the post.
On July 23, 1851, one of the most significant Indian treaties
in our nation’s history was signed at Traverse des Sioux between
the U.S. government and the Wahpeton and Sisseton bands of
the Dakota. Two weeks later at Mendota, a treaty was signed with
the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands. These treaties were instrumental in opening the American west to European settlement.
ome 24 million acres in Minnesota were ceded by the
Dakota in exchange for reservation lands and for
$3,075,000 to be paid over a 50-year period in annual
annuities of goods and money — about 12 cents an acre for
some of the richest agricultural land in the country.
Before ratifying the Treaty, the U.S. Senate added amendments
that weakened the Dakota position. Even with the changes, the
terms of the treaty were not entirely honored by the U.S.
The treaties left about 7,000 Dakota with two reservations,
each 20 miles wide and about 70 miles long, with a 10 mile strip
on each side of the Minnesota River. In 1858 the strip of land
along the north side of the river, nearly a million acres, was also
ceded to the U.S. The government established two administrative
centers, the Upper and Lower Sioux agencies.
Delayed and skipped payments drove the Dakota to increasing
desperation with each passing year. Through deceptive business
practices, unscrupulous traders and government agents took much
of what the Indians did have. Poverty, starvation and general suffering led to unrest that in 1862 culminated in the U.S.-Dakota
Conflict, which launched a series of Indian wars on the northern
plains that did not end until the battle of Wounded Knee in 1890.
Colonel Henry H. Sibley commanded the military. A wellknown fur trader, Sibley was the Minnesota Territory’s first delegate to Congress and the state’s first governor.
With most of the able-bodied men away fighting the Civil War,
the Indians seized their opportunity and very nearly succeeded.
After first advising of the futility of challenging the white man
(“Kill one, two, ten and ten times ten will come to kill you,” he
said), Mdewakanton Chief Little Crow was persuaded to head the
Dakota effort.
efore the Conflict (or Sioux Uprising, as it is often called)
could be brought under control, at least 450 white settlers
and soldiers were killed and considerable property was destroyed in southern Minnesota. There were uncounted numbers
of Dakota casualties because of the Indian custom of removing
all dead and dying warriors from the battlefield.
A five-man military commission was appointed to try the
Dakota who had participated in the outbreak. The commission
settled up to 40 cases in a single day. Some were heard in as little
as five minutes. In all, the commission tried 392 prisoners, sentenced 307 to death and gave 16 prison terms. Many historians
today feel the trial was a travesty of justice.
Authority for the final order of execution was passed to President Lincoln. He was pressured by politicians, military leaders,
the press and public for immediate execution of the 303 still on
the condemned list. Interceding on behalf of the Dakota was the
Episcopalian Bishop Henry Whipple, known to the Indians as
“Straight Tongue” for his fair dealings. The Rev. Stephen Riggs
and Dr. John P. Williamson, Presbyterian missionaries to the
Dakota, wrote letters to the press calling for a fair trial.
Lincoln approved death sentences for only 39 of the 303 prisoners. One of the 39 was later reprieved.
At 10 a.m. on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, the group of
38 ascended a specially-erected timber gallows 24 feet square
and 20 feet high. More than 1,400 soldiers of the 6th, 9th and
10th Minnesota Volunteers and of the First Minnesota Mounted
Rangers were on hand to keep order among the crowds of hostile
citizens. The Indians sang as they left their prison and continued
singing until the end. It was the largest mass execution in American history.
DAKOTA EXILE. KTCA 2, 1996. 60 min. A documentary explaining the dispersal of
HISTORY OF THE SANTEE SIOUX: UNITED STATES INDIAN POLICY ON TRIAL by Roy W. Meyer.
University of Nebraska Press, rev. ed. 1993. A good general history of the Dakota
people by a Mankato State University professor.
1929. (Republished by the Nicollet County Historical Society in 1993.)
History of early exploration, trading posts, mission stations, treaties and
pioneer villages.
1862. Edited by Gary Clayton Anderson. Minnesota Historical Society
Press, 1988.
WHERE THE WATERS GATHER AND THE RIVERS MEET by Paul Durand. An atlas of
Greater Mankato Convention & Visitors Bureau
1 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 200
Mankato, MN 56001
507.385.6660 l 800.657.4733
visitgreatermankato.com
Partners:
Blue Earth County Historical Society
bechshistory.com l 507.345.5566
Granite Falls Area Chamber of Commerce/
Convention & Visitors Bureau
granitefallschamber.com l 320.564.4039
Mahkato Mdewakaton Association
mahkatowacipi.org
New Ulm Convention & Visitors Bureau
newulm.com l 507.233.4300
Redwood County Historical Society
redwoodcountyhistoricalsociety.org l 507.641.3329
the Eastern Dakota Sioux.
Renville County Historical Society
renvillecountyhistory.com l 507.697.6147
Sleepy Eye Chamber of Commerce
sleepyeyechamber.com l 507.794.4731
St. Peter Area Tourism & Visitors Bureau
tourism.st-peter.mn.us l 507.934.3400
Not on our map but relevant to the Conflict
(refer to a Minnesota state map):
SITES OF THE U.S.-DAKOTA CONFLICT
59
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
MONTEVIDEO
212
17
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Red Iron's Village
212
GRANITE FALLS
212
14
67
12
274
44 13
15
18
THE TREATY SITE HISTORY CENTER
OLD TRAVERSE DES SIOUX CEMETERY
NORSELAND
THE OLD FORT ROAD
FORT RIDGELY STATE PARK &
INTERPRETIVE CENTER
LOWER SIOUX AGENCY
REDWOOD FERRY
BIRCH COULEE BATTLEFIELD
BIRCH COULEE MONUMENT
LOYAL INDIANS MONUMENT
SCHWANDT MEMORIAL
UPPER SIOUX AGENCY
PAJUTAZEE MISSION MARKER
DONCASTER’S CEMETERY
HAZELWOOD MISSION MARKER
ACTON MONUMENT Sunday, August 17, 1862, four young Dakota
hunters, after arguing over hens’ eggs, on a dare decided to prove
their bravery. Following a supposedly friendly shooting match, five
settlers were killed. The incident at Acton triggered the largest
Indian war in U.S. history. A large stone marker is erected on the
Acton site just to the west of State Hwy. 4, west of Litchfield and
south of Grove City.
28. LEAVENWORTH RESCUE EXPEDITION
MARKER
16. WOOD LAKE STATE MONUMENT
17. CAMP RELEASE MEMORIAL
MONUMENT
18. GRAVE OF CHIEF SLEEPY EYES
19. MILFORD MONUMENT
20. ARMY RECRUITMENT BAND WAGON
MARKER
MANKATO
29. RECONCILIATION PARK
30. THE WINTER WARRIOR
31. MEMORIAL MARKER
32. MAHKATO WACIPI
33. BLUE EARTH COUNTY HERITAGE
CENTER
NEW ULM
21. BROWN COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM
22. DEFENDERS MONUMENT
23. PIONEER MEMORIAL
24. ROEBBECKE MILL PLAQUE
25 WARAJU DISTILLERY
26. FREDERICK W. KIESLING HAUS
27. BRICK WALL SCULPTURE
CHRONOLOGY
OF THE
1862 CONFLICT
AUG. 17 Five settlers at Acton in Meeker County killed
by four young Dakota hunters on a dare.
AUG. 18 The conflict begins at the Lower Sioux Agency.
Ambush at Redwood Ferry.
AUG. 19 First attack on New Ulm.
Sibley appointed to command volunteer troops.
AUG. 20 First attack on Ft. Ridgely.
AUG. 22 Second, main attack on Ft. Ridgely.
AUG. 23 Second attack on New Ulm
SEPT. 2 Battle of Birch Coulee
SEPT. 3 Skirmish at Acton and attack on Ft. Abercrombie
SEPT. 4 Attacks on Forest City and Hutchinson
SEPT. 6 Second attack on Ft. Abercrombie
SEPT. 23 Battle of Wood Lake
SEPT. 26 Surrender of captives at Camp Release
SEPT. 28 Military commission appointed to try Indian participants
DEC. 26 Thirty-eight Dakota executed by hanging at Mankato.
Martial law declared. Liquor banned within 15 miles.
Snow lies on the ground. Temperature hovers at 15°F.
The gallows are surrounded by 1,400 infantry.
Crowds of excited settlers arrive from all over the
countryside for the spectacle.
Mounted Scout William Duly, who lost three
children in the conflict, severs the rope.
The bodies of the 38 are buried in a common grave,
then dug up on the same night by area doctors
and taken away for anatomy studies.
CHIEF LITTLE CROW STATUE One block south of the junction of
Hwys 7, 15 & 22 in Hutchinson on the north side of the Crow River
is a statue of Little Crow, who reluctantly led the Dakota in the
Conflict. He was killed near Belle Lake on July 3, 1863. The statue
was donated by its sculptor, famed wildlife artist Les Kouba.
STOCKADE SITE MARKER A stockade was built in 12 days in 1862
from logs of houses in Hutchinson. The marker is in Library Square,
Hutchinson.
FOREST CITY STOCKADE After the August 17 incident at Acton,
many settlers fled for refuge to Forest City, the closest village and
the county seat. A stockade was erected in one day on September
3 by the Home Guard and citizens. As part of the U.S. Bicentennial
the residents of Meeker County rebuilt the fort.
* 13 & 14 have little or no markers at this time,
but may have markers in the future. Because
of insufficient parking, stopping could be
dangerous. Please use caution.
BATTLE OF LONG LAKE About 20 men under the command of a
Capt. Strout encountered Chief Little Crow with about 80 warriors
on September 4. A running battle along the west side of Long Lake
resulted in the deaths of three soldiers.
16
Wood Lake
2
11
1
7
Echo
1
71
15
6
Rice Creek Village
8
Shakopee's Village
Belview
FEDERAL HIGHWAY
67
STATE HIGHWAY
273
Little Crow's Village
TOWNSHIP ROAD
GRAVEL ROAD
9
Big Eagle's Village
19 67
COUNTY HIGHWAY
2
Morton
Delhi
5
19
19
REDWOOD
FALLS
10
7
4
Franklin
51
19
Fairfax
24
6
5
4
19
71
67
2
13
11
FORT RIDGELY
5
29 00
11
5
22
21
68
15
Saint
George
Morgan
New
Sweden
68
29
19
20
20
22
111
2
15
21
29
22
3
Klossner
29
169
Norseland
15
1
4
5
Reconciliation Park
Red Otter Ptan Duta
His People Taoyate
One Who Hinhansa
Walks Clothed Koyagmani
In An Owl’s Tail
Iron Blower Maza Bodu
Red Leaf Wahpe Duta
Meaning Sdodye Sni
Unknown
Tinkling Walker Hda Ya Mani
Round Wind
Tate Hmi Yanyan
Rattling Runner Hdaya Inyanka
The Singer Dowan Sa
Second Child
(If A Son)
White Dog
Hepan
Sunka Ska
One Who Tunka Siku
Walks By Icahda Mani
His Grandfather
Red Face Ite Duta
Broken To Pieces
Kabdeca
Third Child Hepi
(If A Son)
One Who Mahpiya Akan
Stands On A Najin
Cloud
A Half Breed Hanke Dakota
The First Born
(If A Son)
Caske
NEW ULM
21. BROWN COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM Built in European lowlands
A Half Breed Hanke Dakota
architectural style in 1910 as the New Ulm Post Office, this unique
building at the corner of Center Street and Broadway houses four
floors of exhibits, many dealing with the Conflict. It is operated by
the Brown County Historical Society and is on the National Register
of Historic Places.
Wind Maker Tate Ka Ga
The Tip Of He Inkpa
The Horn
Eli Taylor (Dakota)
Winter Warrior
A Half Breed Hanke Dakota
One Who
Does Not Flinch
22. DEFENDERS MONUMENT This 24-foot shaft in the median of
Center Street between State and Washington Streets honors local
defenders of New Ulm in the Dakota Conflict. It was designed by
sculptor Anton Gag and features battle scenes in relief.
Nape Sni
Great Spirit Wakan Tanka
One Who Tunkasitku
Stands Close To Ikiyena Najin
His Grandfather
One Who Wakute Wiyaya
Walks Prepared Mani
To Shoot
To Grow Upon
Aicage
Voice That Hotaninku
Appears Coming
The Parent Hawk
Near The Wood
Cetan Hunku
Cankahda
He Comes Howema-u
For Me
Little Thunder Wakinyan
Cistina
Wind Comes Tate Hdihoni
Home
Amos Crooks (Dakota)
SLEEPY EYE18
MANKATO
sculpted by Tom Miller, was a memorial gift in 1987, the 125th
anniversary of the hanging, proclaimed the “Year of
Reconciliation.” The late Dakota spiritual leader Amos Owen
(1917-1990) blessed the site of the statue. A 80-mile memorial relay
run from Ft. Snelling in St. Paul is held annually on December 26,
stopping at the site before ending at Land of Memories Park.
28. LEAVENWORTH RESCUE EXPEDITION MARKER A rescue party was
ambushed at this site, now North 5th and Garden Streets, during the
Conflict.
21
23
26
is its brick chimney standing in West Park north of Center Street. It
was built in 1860, burned in 1862 by the Dakota and never rebuilt.
27. BRICK WALL SCULPTURE A relief wall sculpture of unfired bricks
in an alley at 16 N. Minnesota Street depicts the western movement
of settlers and the retreat of the Dakota. The artist is Gordon
Dingman.
22
25
31. MEMORIAL MARKER At the Riverfront Drive side of the Mankato
Public Library is a Kasota stone & granite monument placed
June 2, 1980, commemorating the execution, which took place at
that site. Provided by the Minnesota and Blue Earth County
Historical Societies, the marker provides a summary of the Conflict
and features a single stone feather sculpted by local artist
Rodney Furan.
SAINT PETER
68
15
NEW ULM
30. THE WINTER WARRIOR This 13-foot Kasota stone statue, also
this little house is one of the few structures still existing that
survived the Conflict. A mini-park and fountain have been added.
The Coming Oyate Aku
People
Essig
25. WARAJU DISTILLERY All that remains of this short lived brewery
26. FREDERICK W. KIESLING HAUS Located at 320 N. Minnesota Street,
To Make A Hda Hiu Dan
Rattling Noise
Suddenly
68 14
24. ROEBBECKE MILL PLAQUE On the wall of an insurance building,
Center at State Streets, this marker commemorates a 70-foot
windmill that became a defense outpost and was destroyed by fire
in the Conflict.
Courthouse lawn, State at Center Streets, is dedicated to the
Minnesota Territory’s founding pioneers and to those who lost their
lives in Brown County during the Conflict.
One Who Maka Akan
Stands On The Najin
Earth
4
29. RECONCILIATION PARK Located at the northeast corner of Main
Street and Riverfront Drive, this memorial parkette is the historical
site of the execution of the 38 Mdewakanton Dakota warriors.
Landscaped with natural prairie grasses and wildflowers, the
memorial is a place for meditation and reflection.The nine-foot tall
buffalo centerpiece, a tribute to the spirit of the Dakota people, was
sculpted by Mankato artist Tom Miller. It is hewn from a single 67ton block of local Kasota stone, one of the largest pieces of
limestone ever quarried. The parkette was built through a unique
collaboration of the Mdewakanton Dakota and Mankato
communities in a spirit of reconciliation. It was dedicated on
September 19, 1997.
23. PIONEER MEMORIAL This granite marker on the Brown County
GALLERY 19
One Who Tipi Hdonica
Forbids His
House
68 14
68
The following are the 38 Dakota who sacrificed their lives for
the Dakota people, Mankato, Minnesota, December 26, 1862.
24
99
Courtland
28
14
27
Nicollet
68
14
169
NORTH
MANKATO
MANKATO
68
29
30
32
32. MAHKATO WACIPI (Powwow) Since 1972, the Wacipi (wahCHEE-pee), a traditional Mdewakanton Dakota event, is held the
third weekend in September in Mankato’s Land of Memories Park
(Dakota Wokiksuye Makoce). The Wacipi memorializes the 38
executed. Music, dance in full regalia, crafts and food highlight this
popular event. Dakota and other Native Americans from
throughout the United States and Canada return to celebrate their
heritage and share their culture with the public. The park with its
campground is at the confluence of the Blue Earth & Minnesota
Rivers off Highway 169 west of Mankato.
33. BLUE EARTH COUNTY HERITAGE CENTER Operated by the Blue
Earth County Historical Society, the Heritage Center preserves and
displays Blue Earth County History in a modern, inviting facility.
Its extensive archives are indispensable to researchers and
genealogists, and its gift shop welcomes shopper and browsers.
Located at 415 E. Cherry Street.
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