Discovery Sites
How to get there: Located on Renville County 15, south of Sacred Heart. Follow the byway from Morton for 14.2 miles.
What you will find: A memorial with an interpretive panel
Services at this site: None
The Schwandt Memorial Monument was erected on August 18, 1915, near the spot where most of the Johan Schwandt family was killed by Dakota Akita (warriors) during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. It was erected in memory of the six Schwandt family members and two of their friends. Two of the Schwandt children survived the attack: daughter Mary and son August.
Mary was taken captive, but was protected by a Dakota woman, Snana Win, whose English name was Maggie Brass. Maggie’s seven-year-old daughter, Lydia, had died six weeks before the war broke out. Maggie arranged to have Mary Schwandt released from her captors, and then protected her from harm for the remainder of the war by hiding her and dressing her in Dakota clothing.
The son, August, badly injured, managed to crawl away and lived a long life with his extended family. Mary was released at Camp Release to Captain Henry Sibley with others who had been held captive during the war. Snana Win and her husband, interned at Fort Snelling, during the winter of 1862-1863, lost their other two children to poor living conditions.
Things to Do: Discovery Site, U.S. - Dakota War of 1862
