The Joseph Brown family with son Jonathan and daughter Oratia were early settlers on a farm five miles west of here along the Shetek Trail. The family fed and over-nighted guests, operating their home as a traveler's inn. Upon hearing news of Dakota Indian unrest during August 1862, they hitched their oxen and fled eastward along the Shetek Trail seeking safety in New Ulm. Upon reaching the location of this marker, five miles from their home, they were overtaken and killed by Dakota Indians in August 1862.

This road, known by the Dakota and early settlers as the Shetek Trail, connected New Ulm westward to Sioux Falls and the Missouri River settlements.

The Brown family was buried in a small cemetery on their farmstead. Later, in 1901 the bodies were reburied in the Springfield City Cemetery.

This marker was erected in 2012 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the US Dakota War of 1862. It was donated by the Richard and Mary Lou Mathiowetz Family, and supported by the Township of Leavenworth.

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Show me all markers in:  Springfield, MN  |  Brown County  |  56087  |  Minnesota  |  United States of America

Leavenworth
Jackson Crossing
Cobden
Jonathan Brown and the Shetek Trail
Dakota Reservation and the Leavenworth Road
Iberia
Veterans Memorial
Springfield, Minnesota
Veterans Memorial
Sleepy Eye State Monument

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