Near Bruce in Brookings County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Oakwood Lakes State Park
Breastworks ⎯⎯⎯ Te-Tonka-Ha ⎯⎯⎯ Nicollet and Fremont
August 15, 2021
1. Oakwood Lakes State Park Breastworks Marker
Inscription.
Oakwood Lakes State Park. Breastworks, also, Te-Tonka-Ha, also, Nicollet and Fremont.
Breastworks . Probably built by two companies of the 2nd Infantry, under command of Capt. D. Davidson, in June-July, 1859. Parapets were then about 5 ft. high. A log house once stood in the center, but was razed long ago for firewood. Cannon were mounted in NE and SW corners. Lt. Joseph H. Porter probably bivouaced here with his detachment of Brackett's Battalion (Minnesota), which located here in the winter of 1864-65 to keep Indians from drifting back into Minnesota.,
Te-Tonka-Ha. The Sioux called these lakes Te-tonka-ha, (Place of the Great Summer Lodge) probably because they made seasonal visits to live on the fish and game which abounded here. About a mile north of this spot are several large mounds where it is presumed that many of their number were buried.,
Nicollet and Fremont. The first white men to visit this area were J.N. Nicollet and J.C. Fremont who wrote in their journal on July 8, 1838, "Wood is not so rare here and it is found on every tongue of land which separates the lakes from one another and by which they communicate their waters with one another. The landscape is full of grandeur and beauty, the soil excellent, the trees of pretty growth, and several villages could be established on their shores. But there is no soul expanding its life here."
Breastworks
Probably built by two companies of the 2nd Infantry, under command of Capt. D. Davidson, in June-July, 1859. Parapets were then about 5 ft. high. A log house once stood in the center, but was razed long ago for firewood. Cannon were mounted in NE and SW corners. Lt. Joseph H. Porter probably bivouaced here with his detachment of Brackett's Battalion (Minnesota), which located here in the winter of 1864-65 to keep Indians from drifting back into Minnesota.
Te-Tonka-Ha
The Sioux called these lakes Te-tonka-ha, (Place of the Great Summer Lodge) probably because they made seasonal visits to live on the fish and game which abounded here. About a mile north of this spot are several large mounds where it is presumed that many of their number were buried.
Nicollet and Fremont
The first white men to visit this area were J.N. Nicollet and J.C. Fremont who wrote in their journal on July 8, 1838, "Wood is not so rare here and it is found on every tongue of land which separates the lakes from one another and by which they communicate their waters with one another. The landscape is full of grandeur and beauty,
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the soil excellent, the trees of pretty growth, and several villages could be established on their shores. But there is no soul expanding its life here."
Erected 1951 by South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. (Marker Number 8.)
Location. 44° 26.574′ N, 96° 59.062′ W. Marker is near Bruce, South Dakota, in Brookings County. It can be reached from South Oakwood Shoreline Drive. Located in Oakwood Lakes State Park, at the breastworks. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 20247 South Oakwood Shoreline Drive, Bruce SD 57220, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East River. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, in the Corn Belt, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere,
August 15, 2021
2. Oakwood Lakes State Park Te-Tonka-Ha & Nicollet and Fremont Marker
the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 15, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 18, 2021. This page has been viewed 815 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 18, 2021. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
