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the Sioux had been deceived, cheated, and mistreated, and harassed beyond human endurance,
and our own course of action would have driven anyone to violence.” This speaker pronounced
this powerful message, demonstrating that 100 years after the conflict, the town of New Ulm is
remembering the Dakota. This event is an important benchmark for the memory of the conflict,
as both white and Native groups came together as one to celebrate the conflict.19

By the time of the quasquicentennial in 1987, the town of New Ulm and Brown County
participated in a unique celebration to honor the men who fell during the conflict by opening a
small exhibit and planning commemorative events around town. At the Defender’s Monument,
U.S. Army Colonel Mansuer spoke of the details of the battles in New Ulm and fixated on the
memory of the population that contributed. After the speech, Turner Hall hosted a banquet,
bringing the community together, honoring the fallen in the same location that paid homage 125
years earlier. At the noon hour, the town offered a series of walking tours, allowing participants
to understand the layout of New Ulm and the importance of its defense during late August 1862.
Situated at various site locations relevant to the struggle, the commemoration efforts educated
the public participants on what exactly took place during the attacks, which in turn keeps the
history of the white settlers alive.20

During the sesquicentennial in 2012, Brown County opened a larger U.S. Dakota War
exhibit in the center of New Ulm, Minnesota. Placed on the third floor of the Brown County
Historical Society, the innovative showing offers a “well-balanced exhibit, to display both sides

19Browns County Reporter, “The Grand Jubilee,” July 8, 1880.; New Ulm Review, “Massacre is
well remembered,” August 27, 1902.; Brown County Official Program, “60th Anniversary Indian
Massacre Celebration and Homecoming,”August 16-20, 1922.; Brown County Historical Society
Manuscript Folder, “60th Anniversary of Sioux Uprising—1922,” August 16-20, 1922.; New
Ulm Journal, “White Settlers were invaded Says Reim in Memorial Talk,” July 2, 1962.
20 Gebhard, Interview by author, 2016.