Murray County

640 acres

Map with GPS coordinates

N44 5.004, W95 36.793

A mowed trail leads a short distance from the parking area to the monument.

Province

Prairie Parkland Province

Section

North Central Glaciated Plains

Subsection(s)

Coteau Moraines

Land Type Association(s)

Shetek Massacre

U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service brochure

On August 20, 1862, during a brief war between settlers and the Dakota Indians, three dozen settlers were discovered by the Dakota hiding in the tall grass at this site. A stone monument dedicated to the thirteen settlers and two Dakota who died in the ensuing battle was erected on the site in 1925. The name of this site recalls the nature of that event.

The slough was drained and the upland area surrounding the slough was a cornfield until 2003. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, together with Ducks Unlimited, has been working since 2002 to restore the upland prairie and refill the slough. An information kiosk was erected in May, 2010.