Civil War digest: This week 150 years ago June 17-22, 1863 June 10-16, 1863June 3-9, 1863
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- Published on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 12:58
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Major Highlights for the Week Wednesday, June 17, 1863
Confederate General Robert E. Lee continued moving his forces northward into Maryland. Skirmishes occurred at Catoctin Creek and Point of Rocks, Md. Cavalry units skirmished at Middleburg, Thoroughfare Gap and Aldie, Va.
In Vicksburg, Miss., the siege continued. Federal forces were constantly annoyed by the attacks on transports and other vessels on the Mississippi River such as one on this day near Commerce, Miss.
‘Alaska Far Away’ movie showing
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- Published on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 13:40
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In the midst of the despair of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal gave more than 200 struggling Midwestern farm families an extraordinary opportunity: the chance to start over on the Alaskan frontier. 
The Matanuska Colonization Project of 1935 was a bold government experiment to relocate these families. “Alaska Far Away” tells the story of the struggles that the project and its participants encountered, and the families who found themselves thrust into the national spotlight along the way. Join us at the Stearns History Museum for one of two free showings of this movie: at 10 a.m. Monday, June 24, and at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13.
Forest City Stockade: Recollections of the descendants of early settlers
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- Published on Friday, 14 June 2013 12:12
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Text from The Meeker REA
Pioneer, October 1975; reprinted in the Tri-County News Oct. 2, 2003.
The following are incidents relating to those who were residents of Meeker County during the late 1850s and the early 1860s, as told by their descendants, who have recalled various incidents and stories told by their relatives who took refuge in the (Forest City) Stockade at the time of the Sioux Indian Uprising in Meeker County.
These are but a few of the stories that might be told about the residents of that time.
Civil War digest: This week 150 years ago June 10-16, 1863June 3-9, 1863
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- Published on Thursday, 13 June 2013 15:07
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Major Highlights for the Week
Wednesday, June 10, 1863
Citizens north of the Potomac River were already alarmed about an impending Confederate advance, even though the Confederate army was not on their soil. Major General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Federal Army of the Potomac, wrote to Lincoln that it was now the time to march on Richmond, Va. Lincoln replied, “I think Lee’s Army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point.”
Experience granite heritage at Quarry Park
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- Published on Monday, 10 June 2013 12:36
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Public demonstration of derrick
The public will have the rare opportunity to see the 100-year old wooden Liberty Derrick at work at Quarry Park and Nature Preserve on Saturday, June 15. The derrick will be put into operation as part of Waite Park’s Spas Tag Festival.
Derricks were the main equipment used by granite companies from about 1900 to 1950 for lifting huge blocks of granite from the quarries. Now Stearns County Parks will operate the Liberty Derrick to demonstrate the process to the public. A four-ton block of granite will be hoisted from the quarry floor at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 15. Excellent viewing locations will be the observation areas along Quarries 17 and 18, and just south of the parking lot.