My wife and I are on a mission to visit all the oversized local landmarks throughout Minnesota. This blog chronicles those visits and covers other related topics.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Chief Wenonga

July 4th, 2007 - Battle Lake, MN

Chief "The Vulture" Wenonga

We headed north from Ashby to Battle Lake to see Chief "The Vulture" Wenonga. In 1795, Wenonga led some 50 Ojibwe warriors into battle with the Dakota near here. They were victorious, but only a few Ojibwe survived, including Wenonga. All of the Dakota were killed. Native Americans named the lake Ish-quan-a-de-win-ing, which roughly translates to "Where but few survived." Settlers eventually renamed it Battle Lake.

The giant fiberglass Wenonga is 23 feet tall, was built in 1979, and stands on the western shore of Battle Lake. The town of Battle Lake celebrates Wenonga Days each July.

On our way out of town we stopped at the Dairy Queen for ice cream cones. I highly recommend it.

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