Day 26 New Ulm, Minnesota (86 miles)

Today the Big Riders are heading east on State Route 14 from Tyler to the German town of New Ulm. They will pass through the town of Sleepy Eye on their way. Sleepy Eye is named after Chief Sleepy Eye, or Ishtakhaba, who was known as a compassionate person with droopy eyelids (or maybe just one), hence his name.

The town of Sleepy Eye newest attraction is the new “Linus” statue, which can be seen from highway 14 as you drive by the Dyckman Library. This statue pays tribute to a Sleepy Eye native, Linus Maurer. Linus Maurer's career began when he and Charles Shultz, creator of Peanuts comic strip, taught cartooning together at Art Instruction Schools, a correspondence school based in Minneapolis. Linus became the inspiration for Shultz's Linus character.


Chuck (aka Charlie Brown), Linus, and Snoopy

Something about New Ulm:
New Ulm is in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,594 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. Located in the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the Cottonwood River. The city was founded in 1854 by German immigrants Christian Ludwig Meyer, Alois Palmer, Athanasius Henle, and Franz Massopoust. The city was named after the city of Ulm in southern Germany. Today, Ulm and Neu-Ulm are New Ulm's sister cities. In part due to the city's German heritage, it is a center for brewing in the Upper Midwest, home to the August Schell Brewing Company. The city is also home to the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, the Hermann Heights Monument and Martin Luther College.


Martin Luther College where the Riders will be staying during their rest day in New Ulm

The Dakota War of 1862 was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of the Dakota people which began on August 17, 1862. The war started due to deep discontent amongst the Dakota people, and justly so. They were losing their land to new white settlers, received non-payment promised to them by the US government, treaties were broken, and food shortages and famine following crop failure was happening. Skirmishes in the following weeks claimed hundreds of lives. The city of New Ulm was attacked and burned to the ground by Taoyateduta (Little Crow) and his Dakota Sioux warriors. The number of Native American dead is unknown, while estimates of settlers who died range between 300 and 800. The conflict also resulted in the largest mass execution in U.S. history, when 38 Dakota men, convicted of murder and rape, were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota. This was the first major armed engagement between the U.S. and Dakota, though it would not be the last.


Picture depicting the Siege of New Ulm

Today's weather forecast for New Ulm:
Temperature: 80.4 °F
Dew Point: 65.9 °F
Humidity: 53%
Wind Speed: 2.7mph
Wind Gust: 5.0mph
Wind: West
Pressure: 29.90in
Precipitation: 0.00in

From Chuck's Face Book: ‎88 miles in to New Ulm Minnesota today, done by noon. Had a nice tailwind. Looking forward to a rest day well deserved. I am finally getting a little stronger and it feels good, even with yet another sinus infection.

Chuck said that with the tail wind all day all of the riders were in New Ulm by 1:30pm. He said that he stopped in Sleepy Eye and talked to a guy, who was mowing the lawn at the Dyckman Library, for about a half hour. The man told him about Linus Maurer, who Charles Shultz based his Peanut's character, Linus on. The man gave Chuck a $20 donation for the ALA and took his picture by the statue of Linus.

Chuck stopped to take some pictures of a newt that was laying along the side of the road on the way into New Ulm. He said that he didn't know what it was until he showed some of the other riders a picture of it. Brad, who had studied biology in college identified it as a newt.


Newt

He told me that Evonne's Mom came up from Iowa to ride with them for the day. She crashed her bike along the sometime during the ride but luckily was not hurt at all. Alan, the Ride's mechanic was able to fix her bike. Evonne's Mom brought sweet corn, watermelon and some other stuff for the Big Riders to eat. Chuck said that the sweet corn was just about the best he had ever ate. I said, "of course it's from Iowa."

Before he went to bed, Chuck talked to Kat, my niece, for awhile on Face Book. Kat lives in Iowa Falls, which is about 3 hours southeast of New Ulm. Kat said that the tornado warning alarms were going off in town (just sightings no touch downs). Chuck said that he could see the threatening weather to the south. It was very hot and muggy in the dorms at Martin Luther College, but he didn't want to set up his tent outside in case the storms moved north.