Jackson in Jackson County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Olson Slaabakken Cabin
⎯⎯⎯
The Jackson County Massacre Monument

Olson Slaabakken Cabin Marker image. Click for full size.

July 30, 2022

1. Olson Slaabakken Cabin Marker

Inscription. Olson Slaabakken Cabin Emmet Olson donated this cabin to the city of Jackson in 1926. The cabin is said to have been the first cabin occupied by the family of Engebret Olson when they arrived in Jackson County in 1860. He said that he traded a yoke of oxen and a wagon to an Irishman for the cabin and adjoining wood lot. The cabin appears on the first plat map of Jackson County in 1858 and is believed to have been owned by Bartholomew McCartney. There is a possibility that it was built by Joseph Coursolle and was used as his trading post during the period of 1856-1857. The cabin originally sat on Section 22 of Belmont Township. Joseph Coursolle was occupying the land when McCartney arrived in 1856 to take possession of his newly purchased claim.

The Jackson County
Massacre Monument
Erected 1909 Following the example of Spirit Lake, a monument was sought to commemorate the victims of the two encounters with the Native Americans in which settlers of Jackson County were killed. In 1898 the victims of the 1862 U. S. - Dakota Conflict were disinterred through the efforts of Ole Anderson; those relics being re-interred

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in the city park in Jackson. In 1899, the Thomas family returned to Jackson looking for the body of Willie Thomas, a victim of the 1857 attack by Inkpaduta. The Thomas boy and the Steward family were all buried in a common grave next to the Steward cabin. Jareb Palmer was able to lead the family to the location. What relics were found were also removed and conveyed to the park. Local lore indicates that the site chosen for the re-interment was the original burial site of the Wood Brothers in 1857. Through the efforts of Mr. Anderson and other residents of Jackson County and Representative John Baldwin and Senator H.E. Hanson the Minnesota legislature of 1909 appropriated $2,000 available July 31, 1909 for the erection of a monument in the Village of Jackson to the memory of those killed in the 1857 and 1862 massacres. Ole Anderson, T. J. Knox and Henry Anderson were named a commission to superintend the erection. The monument was erected in the fall of 1909.

Monument Facts
This monument was erected by Emanuel Haertel of the Jackson - Fairmont Monument Works.
At that time it was 30 feet tall and weighed 60,000 pounds.

The names

The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker image. Click for full size.

July 30, 2022

2. The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker

on the marker were believed to be the names of the victims of both conflicts. At the present time the names have come under scrutiny and some errors have been determined. The list of victims may be more accurately presented as:

1857: (7 victims) : George Wood, William Wood, Josiah Steward, Mrs. Josiah Stewart, Child Stewart, Child Stewart, and William Thomas

1862: (12 victims): Mikkel Olson, Ole O. Forde, Johannes K. Exe, Knudt Midtstad, Brita Midtstad, Lars Larson Furnes, Anna Larson Furnes, Anna Langeland, Anna Langland, Aagaata Langland, Nicolai Johann Langeland, Knud Langland.

Besides the omissions, the main reason for the discrepancy in the names was the many different ways that the Norwegians expressed their names resulting in individuals being referred to by two different names. In comparing the list of victims from the many different accounts of those that survived, the above names are the most consistent. The names of Mr. and Mrs. Lars Hjornevik were put on the monument, but it may be possible that they are the same individuals referred to as Mr. & Mrs. Lars Larson Furnes.

A Shorter Monument
The monument, on June

Olson Slaabakken Cabin / The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker, from the west image. Click for full size.

July 30, 2022

3. Olson Slaabakken Cabin / The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker, from the west

14, 1981, was damaged when a tree fell on it during a storm, breaking the stone. The pieces were taken to St. Cloud where the stone was cut and the pieces were reassembled. A close examination will reveal the repairs and a shorter than original monument.

Erected by the Jackson County Historical Society and the City of Jackson.

Topics. This historical marker and monument is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical year for this entry is 1856.

Location. 43° 37.571′ N, 94° 59.205′ W. Marker is in Jackson, Minnesota, in Jackson County. It is on Riverside Drive 0.1 miles west of State Street, on the left when traveling west. Located in Ashley Park in Jackson. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 418 Riverside Dr, Jackson MN 56143, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and monument is in Southwest Minnesota. It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Corn Belt,

and on the Great Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in

Olson Slaabakken Cabin / The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker, from the east image. Click for full size.

July 30, 2022

4. Olson Slaabakken Cabin / The Jackson County Massacre Monument Marker, from the east

what was once Rupert’s Land,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Olson-Slaabakken Cabin (here, next to this marker); Jackson County Massacre Monument (here, next to this marker); Wood Brothers Trading Post (approx. ¼ mile away); Government Ditches (approx. 1.9 miles away); Birds of a Feather (approx. 2 miles away); History in the Soil (approx. 4.9 miles away); State Line Congregation (approx. 9.9 miles away in Iowa); Marble Cabin (approx. 12½ miles away in Iowa). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Jackson.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.

Credits. This page was last revised on September 1, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 1, 2022. This page has been viewed 820 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 1, 2022.

Olson Slaabakken Cabin⎯⎯⎯The Jackson County Massacre Monument

Olson Slaabakken Cabin
⎯⎯⎯
The Jackson County Massacre Monument