What to See and Do

Visit the site where US and Dakota tensions came to a head in one of the hardest-fought battles of the US-Dakota War.

Walk the battlefield

Walk a self-guided trail through recreated prairie and read about the battle from the perspectives of Joseph Anderson, a captain in the US Army, and Wamditanka (Big Eagle), a Mdewakanton soldier. Sketches from soldier Albert Colgrave provide vivid battle details, and guideposts help pinpoint where the US soldiers were camped and the positions the Dakota took while surrounding the soldiers.

A nearby marker relates to the Battle of Birch Coulee and bears the names of the men dispatched in the original burial detail.

Visit the nearby Fort Ridgely historic site to learn more about the US-Dakota War, and the Lower Sioux Agency historic site to explore the history of the Dakota people and the causes of the war.