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The Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association (WLBPA) has taken a major step toward the development of a memorial site to commemorate the last major battle of the U.S. - Dakota Conflict.
On the eve of the Association’s sixth anniversary in January, the organization announced last week that it had signed a conservation easement with owners of a 240 acre section of land that had been a substantial portion of the Battle of Wood Lake’s setting.
“It’s a great day for future generations of Minnesotans to have this historic area preserved,” said WLBPA founder and president Tom Hosier. “We’re most pleased that it is done.”
Hosier, who lives in Rochester, said that he had been in contact with land owners, John and Muriel Coulter of Tracy, since before the Association was formed. He said that two have been supportive of the Association’s efforts and indicated years ago that they would sign the acreage into an easement.
Developed in cooperation with the Civil War Trust (CWT), The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service, Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) the number of steps involved in the document’s constitution made it an arduous and time consuming process.
Important points of the perpetual easement include an agreement that sets aside 54 of the property’s 240 acres for the creation of the memorial site and an agreement restricting the development of the lands beyond present agrarian uses.
According to Hosier, the 54 acres will come to feature an interpretive trail with signs acquainting visitors with the land’s history. In addition, natural prairie grasslands, which would have constituted the landscape at the time of the engagement, will be planted over the entirety of the site save a small area for parking––giving individuals an idea of what it would have looked like.
The WLBPA
Since its inception, the WLBPA has grown to include over 1,100 members nationwide and has also held the annual Wood Lake Battlefield Symposium. Its leadership on an initiative to include the Wood Lake Battlefield in The National Register of Historic Places was one of its greatest successes when when the site was accepted into the register in mid-2010.
“I really thought it should have been done 50 years ago,” said Hosier. “I mean, how could the last battle of the US - Dakota War of 1862 not be designated as National Historic Place?”
The designation affords the Wood Lake Battlefield a number of benefits and protections, including eligibility for state and federal grants that the Association hopes to garner for site development.
Presently, Hosier said the organization is awaiting the completion of final professional development plans that will contain recommendations to consider when designing the memorial site. With that information, the Association can apply for design, and later construction grant funding.
Hosier said the Association is also hopeful that the roughly dozen remaining area property owners will consider following the Coulter’s suit, signing easements that would help assure the battlefield’s integrity. At present, the Association is looking at a potential easement on property owned by Dave and Donna Ims, where it is said the initial encounter that sparked the Battle of Wood Lake occurred.
As the state prepares to observe the 150th anniversary of the US - Dakota Conflict in 2012, the Association’s efforts this next year could very well be bolstered by the anniversary’s publicity.
Hosier would not wager a guess as to a timeline for the memorial site’s progress, noting that it has taken the Association six years to come this far. He said the organization will organize its activities for the upcoming year when it comes together for the WLBPA’s annual meeting on February 11.
Alternating between Granite Falls and Redwood Falls, this year’s meeting is at the Pizza Ranch in Redwood. It will be open to the public at 2:00 p.m.
The Wood Lake Battlefield Symposium typically occurs the Saturday closest to the anniversary of the conflict, September 23, 1862
The Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association (WLBPA) has taken a major step toward the development of a memorial site to commemorate the last major battle of the U.S. - Dakota Conflict.
On the eve of the Association’s sixth anniversary in January, the organization announced last week that it had signed a conservation easement with owners of a 240 acre section of land that had been a substantial portion of the Battle of Wood Lake’s setting.
“It’s a great day for future generations of Minnesotans to have this historic area preserved,” said WLBPA founder and president Tom Hosier. “We’re most pleased that it is done.”
Hosier, who lives in Rochester, said that he had been in contact with land owners, John and Muriel Coulter of Tracy, since before the Association was formed. He said that two have been supportive of the Association’s efforts and indicated years ago that they would sign the acreage into an easement.
Developed in cooperation with the Civil War Trust (CWT), The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service, Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) the number of steps involved in the document’s constitution made it an arduous and time consuming process.
Important points of the perpetual easement include an agreement that sets aside 54 of the property’s 240 acres for the creation of the memorial site and an agreement restricting the development of the lands beyond present agrarian uses.
According to Hosier, the 54 acres will come to feature an interpretive trail with signs acquainting visitors with the land’s history. In addition, natural prairie grasslands, which would have constituted the landscape at the time of the engagement, will be planted over the entirety of the site save a small area for parking––giving individuals an idea of what it would have looked like.
The WLBPA
Since its inception, the WLBPA has grown to include over 1,100 members nationwide and has also held the annual Wood Lake Battlefield Symposium. Its leadership on an initiative to include the Wood Lake Battlefield in The National Register of Historic Places was one of its greatest successes when when the site was accepted into the register in mid-2010.
“I really thought it should have been done 50 years ago,” said Hosier. “I mean, how could the last battle of the US - Dakota War of 1862 not be designated as National Historic Place?”
The designation affords the Wood Lake Battlefield a number of benefits and protections, including eligibility for state and federal grants that the Association hopes to garner for site development.
Presently, Hosier said the organization is awaiting the completion of final professional development plans that will contain recommendations to consider when designing the memorial site. With that information, the Association can apply for design, and later construction grant funding.
Hosier said the Association is also hopeful that the roughly dozen remaining area property owners will consider following the Coulter’s suit, signing easements that would help assure the battlefield’s integrity. At present, the Association is looking at a potential easement on property owned by Dave and Donna Ims, where it is said the initial encounter that sparked the Battle of Wood Lake occurred.
As the state prepares to observe the 150th anniversary of the US - Dakota Conflict in 2012, the Association’s efforts this next year could very well be bolstered by the anniversary’s publicity.
Hosier would not wager a guess as to a timeline for the memorial site’s progress, noting that it has taken the Association six years to come this far. He said the organization will organize its activities for the upcoming year when it comes together for the WLBPA’s annual meeting on February 11.
Alternating between Granite Falls and Redwood Falls, this year’s meeting is at the Pizza Ranch in Redwood. It will be open to the public at 2:00 p.m.
The Wood Lake Battlefield Symposium typically occurs the Saturday closest to the anniversary of the conflict, September 23, 1862
