Editing Jackson, Minnesota (section)

==History==
For centuries, many indigenous peoples called this area home, including the [[Cheyenne]], [[Iowa people|Ioway]], and [[Dakota people|Dakota]] tribes. In 1851, the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux opened the region to white settlement in exchange for government payments.

Jackson was originally called Springfield, and was laid out under that name in 1856.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n281 262]}}</ref> The first settlers in what is now Jackson County—William, George, and Charles Wood—established a trading post near the Des Moines River around the same time.  A post office called Jackson has been in operation since 1858.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MN&county=Jackson | title=Jackson County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref>

On March 26, 1857, the [[Wahpekute]] Dakota Chief [[Inkpaduta]] and his band attacked the settlement in the [[Spirit Lake Massacre]]. There were 11 able-bodied men in Springfield, and three men, three children, and a woman died in the attack. Also lost to the raiders were 12 horses, [[dry goods]], [[lead]] and [[gun powder|powder]]. The attack's sole survivor was 14-year-old [[Abbie Gardner-Sharp|Abbie Gardner]]. Terrified of a possible second attack, the beleaguered residents abandoned the area.

Two months later, the Minnesota legislature organized the area into a county, naming it after Saint Paul merchant Henry Jackson. The temporary county seat was at the townsite of Springfield, now renamed Jackson. But the area was still depopulated, and resettlement was slow due to continued hostility. In August 1862, the Dakota, angry at late payments from the government, skirmished with settlers; one such skirmish compelled some Dakota leaders to attack government buildings in the Minnesota River, starting the [[Dakota War of 1862|U.S.-Dakota War]]. By August 24, the war's effects had reached Jackson County. Warriors raided a community of Norwegian immigrants in Belmont Township, north of Jackson, killing 13 and wounding three. As in 1857, the remaining settlers fled, leaving Jackson County depopulated again.

After the Civil War, resettlement in Jackson County began again. A stockade was built on the east side of the river, encouraging further immigration. Immigrants came mainly from northern and central Europe. They built homes from native timber and prairie sod. Life remained difficult; there were no wagon roads, no bridges, no churches, and only one school. The threat of attack remained, and the region was susceptible to disasters, including prairie fires, severe blizzards, crop failures, and plagues of grasshoppers. But the pioneers survived and helped establish the agricultural and industrial community Jackson is today.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jacksonmn.com/our-history/ |website=Jackson Chamber |title=Our History }}</ref>