Written by Emily Hodson
Located on ancestral Dakota land in Belle Plaine, Minnesota, the Monarch Joint Venture’s Prairie Oaks property boasts a rich history dating back to the Pre-Columbian period. This area of the Minnesota River Valley (now a part of modern Scott and Sibley counties) was home to two different sects of the Isanti, or eastern Dakota people: the Bdewakantunwan (Mdewakanton) and Wahpetunwan (Wahpeton). The Dakota are a historically semi-nomadic population who moved their villages and changed their work as the seasons required, but some records exist of several permanent Dakota villages built along the Minnesota River within modern Scott County. Within a mile of the Prairie Oaks property archaeological evidence for indigenous activity is plentiful, as modern surveys have discovered artifact scatters, evidence for stone tool production (lithic debitage), and burial mounds in close proximity to the Minnesota River’s southern bank. These sites predate the arrival of European-American settlers in Minnesota and the later unethical land cession treaties of Traverse de Sioux (1851) and Mendota (1851), which saw the American Federal government purchase much of the southeastern Minnesota Territory from the Wahpeton, Sisseton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpekute. Eleven years after these treaties were ratified, southeast Minnesota bore witness to the six-month US-Dakota War (1862), which ended in the Dakota people’s surrender and forced expulsion from their home in Minnesota.
By the war’s end, the majority of the modern Prairie Oaks Institute’s 200-acre property had seen three owners. In 1858, the property’s northeastern quarter was briefly owned by Andrew Chatfield before that same section, along with the southwestern quarter, were given to David and Alice Cook as compensation for David’s service in the Revolutionary War later that year. However, the Cook family’s presence was also short-lived, as in 1860 Charles Roberts acquired the western half of Prairie Oaks. Roberts is the earliest owner to leave a permanent mark on the property, as the small creek that runs through what was Roberts’ section of the land is named “Roberts Creek.” It is unclear if anyone other than the Cook Family or Charles Roberts owned Prairie Oaks between 1860 and 1890, but by 1898 Prairie Oaks had reached its greatest extent. According to an 1898 Scott County Atlas published by the Northwest Publishing Company, the Prairie Oaks property took shape under the Devine Family and expanded to 240 acres – an area which includes the modern property in its entirety. During this time, we presume that the Prairie Oaks farm complex was built on the south end of the property, which consists of a residential farmhouse and six barns of varying sizes. These historical facilities are actively used by the Monarch Joint Venture as a center for community education and scientific research.
In 1905, Prairie Oaks was acquired by farmers Herman and Christina Schmidt, who, with the help of their nine children, would manage the land for nearly 50 years. Schmidt's middle child, Edward, would be vital to Prairie Oaks’ rise to ecological significance, but before his acquisition of the property, a semi-professional gravel mine was opened on the northern end of the property during the 1920s by Herman Schmidt. The remnants of this mine are incredibly significant and can be observed on the property’s northern end in an exposed gravel promontory. During Edward’s ownership of the property, Prairie Oaks’ history embraces an environmental focus, as the American Conservation Corps conducted work on the property near Roberts Creek in the 1930s. The ACC planted a grove (or several groves) of native coniferous cedar trees whose descendants now dot the property and are visible from the Prairie Oaks Farmhouse and the Harvest House on the front end of the property. In 1948, Edward Schmidt was recognized for remarkable water and soil conservation efforts, an event which began a continued tradition of ecologically conscious land management on the property. Along with his wife, Alvina Nagel, Edward farmed the land at Prairie Oaks before transitioning 200 acres of his property to his sister Marilyn Schmidt and her husband, Roger Devine.
Schmidt and Devine continued Edward’s tradition of sustainability, maintaining the original 1800s farmstead and building the Harvest House in the 1980s as a family retirement home. The Devine family continued their community-focused mission into the 1990s, transforming the property into a retreat center and establishing Devine Valley Renewal Ministries in 2002. Renamed Prairie Oaks Institute at Robert Creek in 2008, the 200-acre area we know as Prairie Oaks blossomed into a hub for conservation, sustainability, and education. Programs including organic farming initiatives, community gatherings, and Courage and RenewalⓇ retreats flourished for sixteen years. On February 17, 2024, the Prairie Oaks Institute board dissolved the institute, gifting its campus to the Monarch Joint Venture.
Today, the Monarch Joint Venture is honored to continue the legacy of the Schmidt and Devine families and acknowledges the land’s association with the Dakota people, who set the historical precedent for responsible land stewards in Southeastern Minnesota.
For more information about events, rentals, and programs at Prairie Oaks, click here.
