To the editor:

I would like to thank Curtis Dahlin for his letter to the editor; hopefully it will open a few eyes to what is happening to our history. I would like to go one step further and ask, ‘What is happening to Fort Ridgely or should I say not happening?’

Fort Ridgely was a United States Army Post used to train union soldiers to fight in the Civil War. In August of 1862, Fort Ridgely was attacked by 800 or more Dakota Warriors. The Fort was under siege for two days with only a 19-year-old lieutenant and 21 soldiers to defend it. The commander and most of the soldiers had been killed earlier in an ambush. Dakota chief, Big Eagle, said “We thought the Fort was the door to the valley as far as to St. Paul, and that if we got through the door nothing could stop us this side of the Mississippi. But the defenders of the Fort were very brave and kept the door shut” Again, I would like to ask the Minnesota Historical Society, what is happening at the Fort?

Opal Dewanz

New Ulm