Ole Erickson Boxrud, born in Hedalen, Norway, in 1845, immigrated to Fillmore County, Minnesota, in 1861 and, the next year, enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving with Company E, Sixth Minnesota Regiment. During the 1862 conflict with the Dakota Indians, he was stationed at a farm owned by Ole Jorgenson, where he and seven other soldiers were assigned to protect the Jorgenson family and nearby settlers against possible Dakota attacks. On the evening of April 16, 1863, while on guard duty at the Jorgenson home, barking dogs alerted him that an attack was imminent, and he chose to run from the house to a nearby stockade to warn his fellow soldiers rather than remain sheltered in the home. He was killed before he reached the stockade, and no one else was injured. Although he spent only two years in Minnesota, his actions secured him a lasting place in Watonwan County's heritage. He was buried on the Jorgenson homestead, and his grave was later moved to the Rosendale cemetery.