Sheehan's Treasure Traditional Cache
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This should be an easy cache to get to (if you like to hike or bike). You won't be able to drive right up to the cache and to look for it, you need to purchase a Minnesota State Park vehicle permit. If you look for this one, be sure to look for the State Park Wildlife Safari Cache also. This cache won't be winter accessible unless you like to ski.
We named this cache after Lieutenant Timothy J. Sheehan who was in command at Fort Ridgely during the two battles that took place there in August of 1862. He was stationed at Fort Ridgely with the Fifth Minnesota Infantry Regiment. Since things looked like they were going to be peaceful, he took fifty men of Company C of the Fifth MN Regiment to go back to Fort Ripley, located south of Brainerd, MN, around August 18, 1862 leaving a 19 year old Lieutenant Thomas P. Gere and Captain John S. Marsh in charge of the Fort.
The next day, the Dakota under the command of Little Crow attacked the Lower Sioux Agency just a few miles north of the Fort. Word of the attack came to Fort along with refugees from the indian agency. Captain Marsh sent a message to Sheehan, who was already on his way north, that he was needed back at Fort Ridgely and then Marsh left with some men to go the Agency to see what he could do. He was ambushed by Dakota along the Minnesota River just below the Agency and Marsh along with most of his men were killed or drowned in the river while they tried to get away.
The messenger was able to catch up with Sheehan, who by then had reached present day Glencoe, MN. They made it back to Fort Ridgely within the same day (approximately 45 miles) by marching his men on the double-quick. He then took over command of the Fort from Gere, who at the time was sick with the mumps. An Albert Lea, MN native, Lieutenant Sheehan was only 26 years old when he became commander of the Fort. Along with the help of Ordnance Sergeant Jones and his cannons, and the doctor's wife, the defenders of the fort managed to keep back Little Crow's forces during two attacks on August 20 and 22.
Sheehan went on to become a captain of Company C of the Fifth during the Civil War that fought during the Battle of Nashville in December of 1864. He became a Lieutenant Colonel by the end of the war. He moved back to Albert Lea after the war with his wife Jennie and had three sons. He later became the Freeborn County Sheriff for 12 years. He moved to St. Paul in 1890 and lived out the rest of their days.
Please visit the museum at Fort Ridgely which is housed in the original commissary of the fort. There is lots of interesting information here about not only Fort Ridgely but about many of the people and places involved in what became known as the Sioux Uprising or Dakota Conflict. You can also see the excavated foundations of many of the buildings and signs on the parade grounds will give you a good idea of what really happened there.
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