WOOD LAKE -- A National Park Service grant is an important step towards seeing the Wood Lake Battlefield site designated as a national, historic site, according to Tom Hosier, president of the Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association.
The National Park Service awarded a $42,478 grant to the Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association in late June.
In announcing the grant, the Park Service stated it was looking forward to working with the Wood Lake Preservation Association and protecting and documenting historic resources and battlefields.
Hosier, of Rochester, helped found the Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association in early 2006. The nonprofit group is working to protect the site in eastern Yellow Medicine County and inform the public about its historical significance, as well as to honor the memory of the men on both sides who died here.
The fierce battle that took place at this site on Sept. 23, 1862 proved the decisive fight in the Conflict between the Dakota and U.S. Army. Dakota leader Little Crow had intended to ambush Colonel Henry Sibley and his 1,600 troops as they camped on the prairie.
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The element of surprise was lost when a group of men with the 3rd Minnesota Infantry left camp with wagons in the early morning to raid nearby gardens. They accidentally came across warriors hidden in the prairie grasses, and shots were exchanged.
It's not known how many Dakota warriors died in the battle. Sibley's troops greatly out-numbered the warriors and had far superior fire power.
It's known that 14 Dakota warriors were buried in an unmarked grave on the site, according to the association. Seven of Sibley's troops died, and three of them are believed to have been buried in unmarked graves on the battlefield as well, according to the association.
Hosier said that the Park Service grant will fund the process of officially documenting that the battlefield site is where the fighting took place. He said there is little doubt about where the battle occurred. He said the only real surprise is that the official documentation of this important site has never been undertaken until now.
The designation as an historic site would help the WLBPA in its efforts to obtain funding support to protect the site, according to Hosier.
The site's significance is being recognized. The WLBPA points out that Edwin C. Bearss, chief historian emeritus of the National Park Service, has stated that the site "merits a high degree of interpretation and protection.''
Bearss will be among those speaking when the WLBPA holds its annual symposium on Sept. 20 in Granite Falls.
A monument erected by the State of Minnesota in 1910 stands on a one-acre site near the battlefield where Sibley and his troops had camped. It names the U.S. soldiers who died in the battle, but makes no mention of the Dakota warriors who lost their lives. Nor does it provide any context as to what led to the bloodshed.
