Joseph Brown, his wife, their son Jonathan, and daughter Oratia were early settlers on a farm five miles west of here along the Shetek Trail, where they fed and lodged travelers in their home. After hearing news of Dakota Indian unrest during August 1862, they hitched their oxen and fled eastward along the Shetek Trail seeking safety in New Ulm. When they reached this location, five miles from their home, Dakota Indians overtook and killed them in August 1862. The Shetek Trail, known by the Dakota and early settlers, connected New Ulm westward to Sioux Falls and the Missouri River settlements. The Brown family was buried in a small cemetery on their farmstead, and in 1901 their bodies were reburied in the Springfield City Cemetery.