Tragedy Surrounds Smith Lake on August 20, 1862

Tragedy Surrounds Smith Lake on August 20, 1862. . , Henry and Sophia Smith flee to the Wright cabin , Shouts of terror and the crack of gun fire broke the early morning calm of August 20, 1862. Running in fear for their lives the Lake Shetek settlers passed this way, heading for shelter in the large cabin of John and Julia Wright. Henry Watson "Wat" Smith and his wife Sophia C. Smith, who settled along this lake in 1856, joined the fleeing settlers at the Wright's cabin. , In the opening engagement with the Indians, at the slough, Henry Smith fled the battle along with others. Sophia Smith was killed at the slough and is now buried at the Shetek Monument., Settlers abandon the temporary shelter of the Wright's cabin , Thirty-four frightened settlers and eight Dakota Indians initially took refuge in the cabin of John and Julia Wright. , John and Julia Wright settled at Lake Shetek to begin farming in 1859. They did not build their cabin until the spring of 1861. John was in Olmsted County, Minnesota doing farm labor during August of 1862, while Julia and their two children remained here., After a short stand-off, the settlers in the crowded Wright cabin decided to take their chances and head east for New Ulm. But they only made it to a shallow wetland or slough, later known as Slaughter Slough, two miles east of here. At the slough, Julia and her children were captured and held captive by Indians until their release nearly three months later., Henry Smith cabin as it appeared in 1914, Lake Shetek settlers several days after their release. Photo taken in late November 1862 at Fort Randall, South Dakota. From left to right: Roseann Ireland, Eldora Wright, Julia Wright, Emma Duley, Lillian Evertt, Laura Duley, Jefferson Duley, Ellen Nellie Ireland.