Ole Boxrud

Ole Boxrud. . Eighteen-year-old Ole Erickson Boxrud spent only two years of his short life in Minnesota, but his heroic act on the evening of April 16, 1863, reserved a place for him in the heritage of Watonwan County., Boxrud was born in Hedalen, Norway, in 1845, and immigrated to Fillmore County, Minnesota, in 1861. The next year, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served with Company E, Sixth Minnesota Regiment., During the 1862 conflict with the Dakota Indians, Boxrud was stationed here at a farm owned by Ole Jorgenson. He and seven other soldiers were assigned to protect the Jorgenson family and nearby settlers against possible Dakota attacks. On the evening of April 16, 1863, Boxrud's guard duty at the Jorgenson home was interrupted by the family's barking dogs., Realizing an attack was imminent, Boxrud chose to run from the house to his fellow soldiers' quarters in a nearby stockade and warn them rather than remain sheltered in the Jorgenson home. Boxrud was killed before he reached the stockade. No one else was injured in the incident., Boxrud was buried on the Jorgenson homestead. His grave was later moved to the Rosendale cemetery.