Tag Archives: MN Minnesota River Valley

Destination, Photography

Morton, MN Monuments | MN Minnesota River Valley

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

Birch Coulee was the site of the Battle of Birch Coulee, one of the deadliest battles of the Dakota War of 1862.  It is now preserved at Birch Coulee State Memorial Park one mile north of Morton, Minnesota and has self-guided trails and markers about the battle from both sides.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The Friendly Indian Monument recognizes the six Dakota Indians who befriended and protected government employees, immigrant settlers, missionaries, or aided soldiers during the United States – Dakota Conflict of 1862, most often at the risk of their own lives.  Even though only 6 names are listed on the monument, many more aided those of white descent who are not listed there.

On a hill overlooking the beautiful Minnesota River Valley and the city of Morton, stand two 52-foot tall granite monuments. These monuments are known as the Birch Coulee and Friendly Indian Monuments. The Birch Coulee Monument was erected in 1894 for the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Birch Coulee on September 2, 1862. The Loyal Indian Monument was erected in 1899 to honor 6 Dakota who saved lives of whites during the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862.

Destination, Photography

The To And From – Desitination Pipestone | MN Buffalo Ridge

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

After a short drive to drop off the furry kids at grandma’s house, we set out for Buffalo Ridge – specifically Pipestone, MN.  I have wanted to make this in-state journey for some time now and just haven’t gotten around to it.

Back in-the-day, when I would travel anywhere, it was balls to wall (just recently learned the origin of this) with no time spent in between stopping for anything.  These days, when Cyndie and I travel, I look for most any excuse to take a back road or generally deviate from the prescribed path the GPS has set forth.  We stop for bakery’s, ice cream, antique stores, nursery & greenhouses, interesting small towns – we’ve managed to create an exhaustive list of excuses to stop.  More often than not, we stumble upon fun, interesting, and often times tasty things.  For all these reasons, if the route says 2 hours, you can count on it taking use at least 4 hours.  After all, it is all about the journey.

This is the first of five post detailing our recent excursion to Buffalo Ridge and as the title states, these are the shots heading to and back home from our destination.

Destination, Photography, Wildlife

Abandoned Hunting: The In-Between | MN, SD & ND

This is the follow up post to Abandoned Hunting | MN, SD & ND.

We were afforded quite a variety of scenery and subjects in our travels.  The wildlife was plentiful and spectacular.  The sheer number of geese that will congregate in one area can be quite the spectacle.  We were reminded how nature can often be raw and brutal.  We witnessed a bald eagle ripping away at a deer carcass and another that dispatched Fluffy on the side of a road and then proceeded to carry it away.  The Whitetail deer were seemingly as numerous as grains of sands.  There were three different occasions that we spotted entire herds milling about in the middle of the day.  I very much enjoyed the small towns we passed through.  I could have spent a lot of time photographing their character, but per usual, we were on a mission.

Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Abandoned Hunting | MN, SD & ND

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Cyndie and I had time last weekend to do some abandoned hunting.  We drove through West Central MN (212), NE South Dakota and SE North Dakota.  We were amazed at the number of abandoned farms and homes still standing.  The first two images are two of many that “got away.”  The snow was somewhat of a hindrance.  Minimum Maintenance roads are nothing to mess around with this time of year.  The roads to several properties where minimum maintenance or simply were just not plowed.  GPS coordinates will come in handy for a return trip 🙂

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The next few images are of an almost abandoned town in SD called Hammer.  There was one home there still occupied – not quite a complete ghost town yet.

Further along you will see that we did find a couple of abandoned homes that we could actually explore (Montevideo and Big Stone City).

 

We both would have liked to get inside the 1911 brick schoolhouse in Louisburg, MN, but that just wasn’t possible.

A few more abandoned places we encountered.


It was a great few days to get away and capture rural decay and commit historic visions to pixels.  The post to follow will include all of the photos of all points in between the abandoned places.