Forest City Stockade Marks 150th Anniversary [AUDIO]

FOREST CITY - Saturday marks the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.  The war began on August 18th, 1862 at the Lower Sioux Agency in Morton.  However, the fighting was happening throughout much of Minnesota.

This weekend you can visit the Forest City Stockade.  It's a fortress built to protect the residents of Meeker county during the conflict.

Spokesman Bob Herman says the residents stayed inside the stockade for 10 days - from September 3rd through the 13th.  After that, most of the fighting drifted south.  He says it kept them safe because the Native Americans didn't know what was happening inside those walls.

Hundreds were killed in six weeks of fighting, and the Dakota were exiled from their homeland. The war ended with the hanging of 38 Dakota men in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862 - the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

Nothing from the original stockade remains, but what stands today is an exact replica.

The 29th annual Rendezvous at the Forest City Stockade will be held Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Admission is $3 for adults, kids 12 and under are free.  Forest City is six miles northeast of Litchfield on Highway 24.  About 5,000 people are expected to visit the site throughout the weekend.