Photo by Deb Gau Dakota riders traveled alongside Minnesota Highway 23 on Wednesday morning, on their way from Russell to Marshall.

RUSSELL — It was still the first part of the day, but participants in the Dakota 38+2 Wokiksuye Ride still had a long way to go.

“It’s 31 miles to Vesta this morning,” riders told a crowd of community members and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton students gathered outside RTR Middle School. And after that, they would travel on all the way to Mankato.

The Dakota 38+2 riders passed through the area on Wednesday, as part of a more than 300-mile journey from Lower Brule, S.D., to Mankato. The ride honors 38 Dakota who were executed in Mankato in 1862 after the U.S.-Dakota War, as well as two Dakota leaders who were later taken from Canada to the U.S. and executed.

Riders told the RTR students they were riding for healing and reconciliation. The ride will end in Mankato on Dec. 26, the date the Dakota 38 were hanged.

Riders stopped Tuesday night in Russell, where community members provided food and lodging. On Wednesday, the riders made a midday stop at Living Word Lutheran Church in Marshall before heading toward Vesta.