Fort Dakota Soldiers

Fort Dakota Soldiers. . Fort Dakota was established in 1865 at the abandoned Sioux Falls City town site. Regulars of the 22nd U.S. Infantry Regiment were stationed there in 1866. Four men from this regiment died before the fort was closed in 1869. They were buried in the military cemetery located at present-day Seventh Street and Duluth Avenue., The first was Pvt. Fred W. Pues who became ill with dysentery and died August 26, 1866. Next, Pvt. John T. Martin, a mail courier, drowned on June 28, 1867, when crossing a slough along the Military Road to Sioux City., Cpl. Jacob Luchsinger died of tuberculosis on December 11, 1867. A denial of his pending request for a medical discharge was received one month later. Lastly, on March 5, 1869, Pvt. Fred Kohlhauff, whose enlistment had expired, was trapping when surprised by a blinding blizzard and froze to death., In 1881 L. T. Dunning, Sioux Falls Village Council president, directed removal of the remains from the abandoned military cemetery. The four headstones nearby mark where the Fort Dakota soldiers were buried.