Underwood’s Fort Juelson was a response to Native American uprising, Custer massacre

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, June 9, 2007

Travelers along Highway 210 east of Underwood oftentimes notice a lone flag pole high atop a hill just north of the highway.

What they see is the commemorative site of Fort Juelson built 131 years ago by area pioneers who feared Native American uprisings following the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.

Gen. George Custer’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn took place June 25, 1876.

There were fears of Native American uprisings in west central Minnesota ever since the 1862 Sioux rebellion.

Fourteen years later, those fears were reinforced after Custer’s defeat.

While many pioneers fled the farm areas for larger communities such as Fergus Falls and Alexandria, many residents near Underwood decided to stand firm and build a fort under the direction of Hans Juelson and Berg O’Lee.

The walls of Fort Juelson, named in honor of Hans Juelson, were about 4-1/2 feet high and four feet thick.

Built from sod cut by a plow, the fort was situated on a commanding position atop the hill. The fortification was 120 by 100 feet in size.

Native American uprisings in this area, in 1876, never did materialize. The July 14, 1876, Daily Journal editorial conveyed the need to “quiet the nervous men and women who are influenced by ridiculous stories of Indians (Native Americans).”

Nonetheless, in order to make people feel more secure, military companies were formed in Pelican Rapids, what’s now Norwegian Grove Township and elsewhere in this area.

Even though Fort Juelson never was needed as a defense against Native American uprisings, it was seen — in succeeding years — as a symbol of early Otter Tail County courage and perseverance.

As for Custer, his haste to overtake a Native American village near the Little Big Horn River in Montana backfired. He also underestimated the forces assembled by Sitting Bull.

Custer mistakenly divided his own forces and advanced to the village instead of waiting for additional troops.

By the end of the 20th century, the general recognition of the mistreatment of the various Native American tribes in the conquest of the American West, and the perception of Custer's role in it, changed the image of the battle and of Custer.

The Little Bighorn was viewed by some as a confrontation between relentless U.S. westward expansion and warriors defending their land and way of life.

The site was first preserved as a national cemetery in 1879, to protect graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers buried there. It was redesigned Custer Battlefield National Monument in 1946, and later renamed Little Bighorn National Monument in 1991.