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Battle of Birch Coulee

Renville County · U. S. highway 71, opposite center of sec. 19, T. 113 N., R. 34 W., north of Morton · location approximate

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On the prairie half a mile east of here a party of about 160 troops was attacked by Sioux at dawn September 2, 1862, during the Outbreak. The force was surrounded for thirty hours, and lost over a third of its number in killed and wounded. The site is owned by the State.

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)

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