An Archaeology of Fear and Loathing: Building, Remembering and Commemorating the Civilian and Military Fortifications of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Historical Memory, Archaeology, And The Social Experience Of Conflict and Battlefields" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Relatively unknown outside of the state, the impacts of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862 are far-reaching and ongoing in many Minnesota communities. Prior to 1862 most U.S. military installations in Minnesota were not walled or stockaded. The relentless land grabbing of settler colonialism, however, led to the hardening of racial categories. By August 1862 long-simmering tensions between the Dakota and Euro-Americans had boiled over into open warfare. For nearly two months militant Dakota attacked Euro-American settlements and military installations. In response, settlers across southwest and central Minnesota either fled the region or attempted to fortify their settlements. The U.S. military also responded by constructing a number of fortifications. Although remembered and commemorated in local and state historical narratives, both the so-called "settlers’ forts" and military installations of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862 are today a largely unexplored part of Minnesota’s archaeological heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Historical Memory, Archaeology, And The Social Experience Of Conflict and Battlefields

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 139