Discovering the Sacred Red Rock began with Betty Curle Baxter’s family connection to EP land

Sheldon Peters Wolfchild attributes his journey of discovering the Sacred Red Rock in Eden Prairie to Betty Curle Baxter.

Wolfchild, a documentarian who is part of the Lower Sioux Indian Community traditional elders and a member of the Mdewakanton Sioux nation, explains, “Because Betty’s family and the rock being on their property, that led me to do the research over there in Eden Prairie.”

Baxter recalls attending a celebration for a woman’s 100th birthday, where the celebrant was asked about her memories from earlier years.

“When asked about the Indians, (the woman celebrating her birthday) appeared puzzled and responded, ‘I don’t know anything about them,'” Baxter recounts. “However, I had knowledge about them because my dad had grown up in Eden Prairie. That explains the connection and how I became involved in this matter.”

Wolfchild learned about the rock’s long-ago presence on Baxter’s family’s land in Eden Prairie from Bill Konrardy, who was at the party and heard Baxter recount her father George Curle’s stories.

“Their family got to know those family members of the Dakota, parents, and grandparents,” Wolfchild said of the Curle family. “It’s many years ago that this started in terms of Betty’s history. So that’s a direct connection right there — their families, her family has the farm land where the Red Rock was sitting. That’s what was very interesting for me to get involved when I heard this story from Bill.”

Until she spoke to Wolfchild, she and her family believed that the Eden Prairie Red Rock was the only one of its kind. “Now, it turns out there are several of them,” she said.

Baxter’s grandparents, John and Pauline, settled on 80 acres of land in 1883, which would have been near Pioneer Trail and Eden Prairie Road. Her father, George, was born on that property in 1886 and recalled being able to see the rock from his bedroom window as a child.

When his father died, George bought 40 acres of land from his mother. Baxter noted that the rock was not situated on the land he purchased. 

“He remembered seeing the Indians walk while on their path from Shakopee to Minnetonka, stop at the Red Rock, and the rock was on that property,” said Baxter, who is 92 years old and resides in Minneapolis. “He grew up watching the Indians come and go.”

Kathie Case, president of the Eden Prairie Historical Society, is grateful for Baxter’s invaluable contribution to the Red Rock project.

“She’s just been a gift to get to meet, and she’s got such a clear memory and has really been extremely helpful with all of this,” Case said.

Baxter’s story captivated Wolfchild, notably her father’s experience attending school with Native American children in Eden Prairie. Baxter shares that her father and uncle attended Gould School alongside two Native American sisters, Mary and Minnie Otherday. 

Minnie’s life in Eden Prairie was featured in an article by Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) in December of 2022.

According to an article, Minnie was born on July 24, 1877, in Eden Prairie on 18 acres of land her family bought in 1871. One of Minnie’s grandsons, Charlie Vig, was chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community from 2012 to late 2019. He told the Star Tribune that Minnie was descended from John Otherday – some records spell it Other Day – credited with saving dozens of settlers and government workers during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

When Baxter was five years old in 1935, she remembered her family’s unexpected encounter with Minnie Otherday.

During the summers then, Baxter’s family — her father George, mother Judy, brother Bob, and herself — found solace at their beloved cabin in Eden Prairie, lovingly named “Curlewood.” For the rest of the year, they resided closer to George’s job at the Minneapolis Tribune.

One day, while the family was visiting neighbors, Otherday arrived to buy eggs.

According to “The Curle Story,” a family history book by Baxter, Minnie and George were happy to see each other. After Baxter’s father introduced his family, Minnie went to the car and returned with gifts for the entire family.

Otherday’s gift to Baxter was a handmade American Indian doll made of rawhide with black fur hair that stood straight on end. 

The doll’s costume included a floursack blouse, and an overgarment of velvet stiffened with a used envelope, revealing part of the address on the underside. It featured fringe, beadwork, and a face painted with high cheekbones.

Baxter said all the gifts, except for the doll, are long gone. Despite being taken to schools by Baxter over the years, the doll remains in good condition.

“It continues to be a prized possession,” she wrote.

She believes Minnie had been treated with respect in Eden Prairie.

For Wolfchild, the story of the Eden Prairie Red Rock signifies the connection of the human spirit, transcending barriers of color. He emphasizes the significance of goodness, love, and dignity. This connection embodies the essence of what the Red Rock represents to him and his people.

“That we’re all human beings and we’re relative,” he affirms. “That’s what our Dakota system believes in. So, that is a good example right there — how children of different races got along in their families. And that’s the story of what Red Rock is about.”