Ojibwe and Dakota nations had a long history of conflict in what would become Minnesota, and both peoples contended for control of the abundant natural resources in the future Kandiyohi County area that played an economic role in the global fur trade. Sites in the area became culturally significant through associations with conflict, and this Dakota campsite was very important. In 1857, Andrew Holes and William B. Cartledge of New London witnessed a party of Dakota dancing here to celebrate victory over the Ojibwe.