Acton, Minnesota

Acton is located along Meeker County Road 23 near State Highway 4. County Road 32 is also nearby. A post office called Acton was established in 1857, with Peter Ritchie as the postmaster, and it remained in operation until 1904, but the community was only organized into a village or township in April 1858. It was named after Acton, Ontario, Canada, where the Peter Ritchie family came from, when they settled in the area in 1857. (Peter was born circa 1831 in Canada.) Peter was counted in the September 21, 1857 census as living in Township 119 (Acton). Also in 1857, Robinson Jones, Howard Baker and his mother, and Abram Kelley settled there. Capt. George W. Robinson and John Blackwell came about the same time also. Besides Blackwell, the rest had all met in a lumber camp on the upper Mississippi in the previous winter. The first child born in Acton was William R. Ritchie, son of Peter and Margaret Ritchie. Peter didn't file his land claim until 1860.

The Dakota War of 1862

Battle of Acton historical marker

The incident that sparked the Dakota War of 1862 took place near Acton on August 17, 1862. Four Mdowakantons (“dwellers at the spirit waters”) from Rice Creek Village in the Lower Sioux Agency, returning home from an unsuccessful hunt, had a confrontation with Robinson Jones, a settler. The result of the dispute was that the Mdowakantons shot and killed five settlers, including Jones. That started what was known as the Indian War, the Sioux Uprising, and other names. On September 3, a 55-man company of the newly-formed 10th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment was routed by a band of Dakota warriors near Acton. Led by Capt. Richard Strout, the regiment managed to break free and was pursued eight miles to Hutchinson. Six of the soldiers were killed and 23 wounded. The number of Dakota dead and wounded is not known.[2]