“Historic” trip for boy scouts

In October, Waseca Scouts BSA Troop 85 members used their regular campout to also learn a little about Minnesota history.  The long MEA weekend presented the opportunity to travel to Fort Ridgely State Park. Scouts camped for two nights at the park, but also visited nearby historic sites to complete requirements for the Historic Trails Award. According to Boy Scouts of America, this award should “bring appreciation to the ideals, principals, and traditions that have made our country strong.” Troop 85 chose to complete the “1862 Dakota Uprising Trail” which took scouts to the historic sites of Lower Sioux Agency, Birch Coulee Battlefield, and historic Fort Ridgely. At each site, scouts followed guided hiking trails and learned about the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. The Troop learned about the causes of the war, specific details about important battles, and what happened to the Dakota people after their war effort failed. After the outing, six scouts and five adult leaders had all earned the historic trails award.

In addition to learning about the six weeks of war while hiking various trails, participating scouts needed to answer a series of questions, the answers to which had been posted on historical markers. With more than 60 questions to complete, scouts learned a lot about the war, Dakota culture, frontier life for fur traders, settlers, and soldiers, and even about restoring Minnesota prairie grasses. This was a group effort as some answers were difficult to find and the questions didn’t always go in sequence! Birch Coulee battlefield was especially interesting because the historic site has specific locations to stand both where U.S. soldiers and Dakota warriors were positioned. The interpretive tool allowed scouts to see why the U.S. soldiers were easily surrounded and would have lost the battle if reinforcements from Ft. Ridgely hadn’t arrived in time. 

The group also took time to drive into the town of Morton to view two monuments associated with the war – one to commemorate the battle at Birch Coulee and another to recognize “friendly Indians” who helped white settlers escape during the war. While there, scouts met a descendant of one of the Dakota women named on the monument; he shared some personal stories about his ancestor and her role during the war.

In addition to visiting these historic sites and answering the questions, the troop also needed to conduct a public event related to the information learned from the historic trails. Area resident Blaine Brooks recently donated a demonstration teepee which he had formerly used while teaching during FarmAmerica events about Native American life. The troop set up the teepee at the Waseca Fairgrounds and invited local Cub Scout Pack 86 to explore it. The troop is looking for further opportunities for further opportunities to set up the Teepee and share more about what was learned while earning the historic trails award.

Waseca Scouts has two troops that work together on a variety of activities, service projects and camping trips. Troop 85 is comprised of boys ages 11-17 and Troop 1085 is for girls of the same age. The troop goes camping 6-8 times every year. The last couple years it has ventured farther than the local area and has had the opportunity to explore more of Minnesota. The camping weekend at Fort Ridgely not only provided a chance to visit another part of the state, but also learn about an important part of Minnesota’s history while visiting sites where historic events occurred. Anyone interested in learning more about Scouts in Waseca is invited to contact Julie Anderson at humann44@yahoo.com or 404-409-7731.