My wife Robbie and I spent a couple hours at the end of the day on Sunday at the Minnesota Historical Society’s Lower Sioux Agency historic site:
Established by the U.S. government in 1853 as an administrative center, the Agency became the scene of the first organized attack in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.
We spent most of our time in the Lower Sioux Agency interpretive center exhibit. A sign inside (above photo) at the entrance reads:
THIS EXHIBIT WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF DAKOTA ADVISORS
Ernest and Vernell Wabasha, Lower Sioux Community
Joe Campbell, Prairie Island Indian Community
Harold St. Clair, Upper Sioux Community
Glynn Crooks, Shakopee Sioux CommunityAND THE SUPPORT OF MINNESOTA’S FOUR FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED DAKOTA COMMUNITIES
Lower Sioux Community Tribal Council
Roger Prescott, ChairPrairie Island Indian Community Tribal Council
Audrey Kohnen, PresidentUpper Sioux Community Tribal Council
Dallas Ross, ChairShakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Council
Stanley Crooks, ChairShakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Archives Staff
Jim Warren, ArchivistJune, 2000
The displays in the Lower Sioux Agency interpretive center exhibit are impressive. My only complaint is that the MNHS web page for the exhibit gives no clue at how impressive it is. People checking it out the web site before deciding to visit could benefit from more visuals.
See the album of 100+ photos or this slideshow:
This is very true–as some of the higher-ups in Renville County say, the MNHS has abandoned that part of the state. I don’t know how this would make sense to the state historical society, as so many important events occurred there, and many important Minnesotans lived in that area as well. Thank you for the photos of the Center–I wish they had their own website, but I’m having no luck finding it.
PS. I didn’t realize that yet another Rice County citizen has ties out near Renville County! Your genealogy connections are lovely–thanks for sharing.
Hi A.E., thanks for the note. Yes, it would be nice to see a better web page that shows off the Center. All I can find is at:
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/lsa/lsaexhibit.html