TreeAlive
← All Minnesota markers

St. Joseph Blockhouse

Stearns County · U. S. highway 52, where the highway turns north about 1 block from St. Benedict's · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗

At this point the citizens erected one of three pentagonal blockhouse of green timber, with sides 50 feet long, in August 1862, during the Sioux Outbreak. A second blockhouse stood near the present grounds of St. Benedict's College. These forts effectively protected this important town on the Red River trail against Indian threats.

Verbatim 1940 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Minnesota now calls the 1862 conflict the U.S.-Dakota War and has since replaced the wording on some of these signs.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Work Projects Administration, Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department Cooperating with the Minnesota Historical Society (1940)

More markers nearby

See your own family's places through time.

Start with your family tree