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Wood Lake Battlefield

The last battle of the United States and Dakota conflict of 1862 took place on the Wood Lake Battlefield. To commemorate this battle the Wood Lake monument stands on one acre of state land in the area where Sibley located part of his camp near Granite Falls. The monument can be found by driving east from Granite Falls on Highway 67 (about 11 miles) to the Rock Valley Lutheran Church. Turn west on the blacktop and continue for 1/2 mile. The monument is located on the south side of the road. An informational sign is also on the site. The battle sites are currently privately owned.

On Sunday, September 21, 1862 word came to the Dakota that Sibley’s troops had been sighted at the Redwood River and that they would reach the Yellow Medicine bottom that day. It was decided that the Dakota would attack the troops there. Holes were dug in the camp to house the women and children. There were 738 Indians on the battleground at Wood Lake. At the crossing of a creek, near the mission house, two warriors stood on the road leading to the battleground, and as each Indian passed he handed a stick to those on guard. The battle began in the early morning on September 23. Little Crow had strategically placed his Dakota warriors in three locations to ambush the anticipated march of Colonel Henry Sibley’s forces. Unfortunately for the Dakota, soldiers from the Third Minnesota Infantry decided, without authorization, to forage for vegetables at the abandoned Upper Sioux Agency. Their wagons flushed some of the Dakota from their concealed places in the tall prairie grass. Some of the soldiers who were picking potatoes were fired on by the Indians and chased back into the camp — the two companies of soldiers came and drove the Indians back. Next the Indians rushed in and drove the two companies of soldiers and killed three of them before they reached their camp. The Indians surrounded the camp and fired on the troops from all sides. However, the soldiers came out of the camp and pursued the Indians, killing many of them. The battle began prematurely and Little Crow lost his element of surprise. Little Crow tried two fanlike flanking movements but was unsuccessful against Sibley’s concentrated force, which outnumbered the Dakota. After just two hours of fierce fighting, the Dakota warriors withdrew from the field. The Indians then withdrew and went back to their camp and the next morning fled to the north.

Source: Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862, edited by Clayton Anderson and Alan Woolworth, Minnesota HS Press, 1988.

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