Lake Shetek Monument, (sculpture).

Lake Shetek Monument, (sculpture).

Haskin Brothers, fabricator.

Lake Shetek Monument, (sculpture).

1924. Dedicated Aug. 2, 1925.

Shaft: Redwood grey granite; Foundation: concrete.

Shaft: approx. H. 30 ft.; Foundation: approx. W. 8 ft. x D. 8 ft. (43 tons).

(East side of shaft on polished granite section, incised lettering:) COURAGE/(State of Minnesota seal)/SHETEK (South side of shaft, on polished granite section, incised lettering:) PATRIOTISM/ERECTED A.D. 1924/BY THE/STATE OF MINNESOTA/AND DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF/THOSE WHO WERE SLAIN IN THE LAKE/SHETEK INDIAN MASSACRE OF AUG. 20, 1862/AND TO COMMEMORATE THE PRIVATIONS/AND HARDSHIPS AND THE HEROIC DEEDS OF/THE SURVIVING PIONEER SETTLERS OF/MURRAY COUNTY AND VICINITY (West side of shaft, on polished granite section incised lettering:) FIDELITY/MONUMENT/COMMISSION/J.E. BAXTER- HENRY PAAL/C.A. PORTMANN (North side of shaft, on polished granite section, incised lettering:) HUMANITY/ALMIRA HATCH EVERETT/WIFE OF WILLIAM EVERETT/WILLIE EVERETT AGE 5 YRS./CHARLES EVERETT AGE 2 YRS./SOPHIA WALTERS IRELAND/WIFE OF THOMAS IRELAND/SARAH JANE IRELAND AGE 5/JULIANNE IRELAND AGE 3/SOPHIA SMITH WIFE OF HENRY W. SMITH/JOHN VOIGT-ANDREW KOCK/JOHN EASTLICK AGE 29/FREDERICK EASTLICK AGE 4/GILES EASTLICK AGE 2/WM. J. DULEY JR. AGE 10/BELLE DULEY AGE 6

A shaft comprised of fifteen rough-faced stone tiers, set atop a polished granite section, atop three rough-faced lower tiers. The entire piece is set upon a square concrete foundation, surrounded by a mesh fence.

History -- United States -- Minnesota

History -- United States -- Lake Shetek Massacre

Homage -- Everett, Almira Hatch

Homage -- Everett, Willie

Homage -- Everett, Charlie

Homage -- Ireland, Sophie Walters

Homage -- Ireland, Sarah Jane

Homage -- Ireland, Julianne

Homage -- Smith, Sophia

Homage -- Voigt, John

Homage -- Kock, Andrew

Homage -- Eastlick, John

Homage -- Eastlick, Frederick

Homage -- Eastlick, Giles

Homage -- Duley, William J., Jr.

Homage -- Duley, Belle

Outdoor Sculpture -- Minnesota -- Currie

Administered by State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks, Rural Route, Currie, Minnesota

Located Lake Shetek State Park, Entrance gate, Currie, Minnesota

Monument was built by the State of Minnesota and commemorates the fifteen victims of the Lake Shetek Massacre, murdered by Indians on Aug. 20, 1862. The shaft marks their mass grave. Each tier of the shaft presumably represents a victim. The monument was "dressed and engraved" by Haskin Brothers, of Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Granite was quarried in North Redwood, Minnesota. IAS files contain excerpt from "Murray County History," c1982, pg. 19-20, 588; a partial list of donors and dedication information.

Nearby marker reads: At this site lie the bodies of fifteen people in a mass grave ten feet long, four feet wide and four feet deep. Contained in this grave are the remains of six adults and nine children killed either at Lake Shetek or at Slaughter Slough on August 20, 1862. The fifteenth victim, whose name does not appear on the Monument, was a twelve-year-old boy killed in the late afternoon on the 20th. Mistakenly identified as Frank Eastlick, he lies with the rest, his name unknown to this day. The State of Minnesota began construction of this monument in 1924. It was completed and dedicated in 1925.

Originally the bodies of the slain lay untended from August 20 to October 16, 1862. The bones were collected and buried by the edge of Slaughter Slough in a shallow grave and lay there until the following year. On October 31, 1863, a military burial party, commanded by Captain Starkey and assisted by Wm. Duley, Captain of Scouts, with the aid of Thomas Ireland, Charles Hatch and H. Watson Smith reburied the remains at this present location.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Minnesota survey, 1995.

"Murray County History," c1982, pg. 588.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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