Bloody day in history

Renville Co. man lends his time, expertise to help visitors learn about the Battle at Birch Coulee

By Scott Thoma

Renville County historian Jerry Weldy gave a walking tour in early September at the Birch Coulee Battlefield site. Photo by Scott Thoma

Jerry Weldy is proof positive that you are never too old to learn.

Weldy, 86, a Renville County resident and historian, first became intrigued by the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862 as a young boy. He currently gives tours and presentations at various locations in Minnesota where some of the major events took place.

One of these locations is the Birch Coulee Battlefield, which is located four miles northwest of Morton and 10 miles northeast of Redwood Falls. The battlefield site has been preserved as an educational landmark. This historic site in maintained by the Renville County Historical Society located in Morton.

“I’ve given tours (at Birch Coulee) for the past six years,” Weldy said. “I first got interested as a young boy when learning about the sites where some of these battles took place, and I’m learning new things all the time.”

Weldy has lived on a farm five miles east of the Birch Coulee Battlefield for the past 61 years. A granddaughter of his great great grandfather is buried in one of the two Birch Coulee nearby cemeteries.

Once a site of one of the deadliest battles of the U.S.-Dakota war over 150 years ago, Birch Coulee is now a sorrowful reminder to the past. Storyboards from both the Dakota and U.S. solders’ perspectives have recently been upgraded by the Minnesota Historical Society along a maintained walking trail. Benches were placed throughout the area by the Renville County Historical Society.

Renville County historian Jerry Weldy talks to a group of visitors in early September at the Birch Coulee Battlefield site outside of Morton. Photos by Scott Thoma

“It’s now a beautiful place where people come from all over to learn about the history of this battlefield and the other areas where battles took place throughout the county,” said Renville County Museum Director Nicole Elzenga.

This Birch Coulee Battlefield site takes you back to the time of the conflict, showing precise locations of where certain events took place during the battle that left 13 soldiers dead and over 50 others injured. All 90 of the soldiers’ horses were killed.

There were also two recorded Dakota deaths from the battle.

The self-guided trails are open daily from dawn to dusk, although the trails are not maintained in the winter.

On Sept. 1, 1862, a detail of 70 soldiers and 20 civilians under the command of either Captain Joseph Anderson and Captain Hiram P. Grant was dispatched from Fort Ridgely to bury the remains of settlers who had been killed in the early weeks of the US-Dakota War. Among those in the burial party was former Indian agent Major Joseph R. Brown, who felt he could lend expertise because of his knowledge of the Dakota people.

That evening, Captain Anderson selected an open piece of ground near Birch Coulee Creek to set up camp.

Dakota scouts found out that the U.S. detail would be camping at this site on their way to Fort Ridgely in New Ulm.

“It was late in the day and the U.S. soldiers had been burying settlers all day and hadn’t come across any Dakota, so they decided on this place to camp for the night,” Weldy explained. “The soldiers placed the wagons in a horseshoe shape about the size of a football field and tied them together and set up camp inside. There were few trees in this area, mostly because of prairie fires. Because the grass was five-feet high, they felt it would help conceal them from the Dakota and also provide food for the horses.”

A Battle of Birch Coulee monument sits along Highway 71 west of the battlefield site near Morton. 

Sometime during the night, a band of 200 Dakota and Mankato warriors quietly surrounded the U.S. soldiers’ camp. Just before sunrise, a U.S. soldier spotted a few of the Dakota and nervously aimed his rifle and pulled the trigger. The gunshot reverberated throughout the ravine as a cloud of smoke hovered a few feet off the ground. That shot set off the Battle of Birch Coulee.

For nearly 36 hours, the battle continued until a troop led by Henry Sibley arrived with reinforcements from nearby Fort Ridgely.

“Even though Fort Ridgely was 15 miles away, the gunfire was heard,” Weldy said.

During his walking tour, Weldy stops at each storyboard and provides insight while those in the group listen intently and take photos.

“Captain Anderson told his men to lie on their bellies and shoot,” Weldy said. “They tipped the wagons on their sides for protection and when the horses or other soldiers were killed, they used those for protection. They later learned that one of the wagons had over 200 bullet holes in it.”

The Birch Coulee Monument lists the names of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in the 1862 battle. 

Weldy said a lot of information he has gathered about this battle and others came from accounts of preserved handwritten letters from those who survived the battle.

“There wasn’t much information available about this battle in other parts of the country because the Civil War was going on at the same time,” Weldy said. “People are interested in learning about the battles in this area now. That’s why I continue to do these tours.”

The nearby Birch Coulee Battle Monument, erected by the State of Minnesota in 1894, honors the heroism of soldiers and citizens who fought in the Battle of Birch Coulee during the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862. The monument lists the names of those who died and were wounded, as well as those who fought the battle.