History
Junior Pioneers of New Ulm and Vicinity
The Junior Pioneers were formally organized by the children and descendants of the original settlers on Sunday afternoon, February 25, 1912, in the preparation for the 50th Anniversary of the “Dakota Conflict of 1862”. The Society is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.
The Junior Pioneers’ purpose is to “keep green the memory of the pioneers who settled in New Ulm and the vicinity: and to preserve as much as possible the usages and customs, language, and ideals of the early settlers.”
This is being accomplished by a historic marker program, conducting historical programming and collaborating with the City of New Ulm and the Brown County Historical Society. The Society is involved in planning New Ulm’s founding anniversaries and commemorative events connected with the “Dakota Conflict of 1862”. The Society was instrumental in establishing the New Ulm Public Library and Museum in 1937.
Junior Pioneer Park
Junior Pioneer Park is located on the south side of New Ulm, on the way to Schell’s Brewery. It is adjacent to and overlooks an unnamed creek and the north bank of the Big Cottonwood River. It is marked by a 75th Anniversary Monument located just to the right of the gate. The property was privately purchased from the German Land Association of Minnesota in 1855 and is shown on the original 1858 plat of the city of New Ulm. A hunting club composed of 14 settlers bought the acreage in the 1870’s and named it Jagers’ Rhue (Hunter’s Rest). The Junior Pioneers bought the park from the hunting club in 1923.
Become a member of the Junior Pioneers
Membership is open to anyone who is a direct descendant of pioneers who lived in the New Ulm vicinity by 1870. The “vicinity” includes the City of New Ulm, the Townships of Cottonwood, Lake Hanska, Linden, Milford, and Sigel in Brown County, the Townships of Bernadotte, Brighton, Courtland, Lafayette and West Newton in Nicollet County, and Cambria Township in Blue Earth County.
