[3] Birch Cooley Township was the site of some of the heaviest fighting of the 1862 Dakota War due to its location directly across the Minnesota River from the Lower Sioux Agency.

[4][5] The Birch Coulee Battlefield historic site is located in the township.

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 257 people, 95 households, and 68 families residing in the township.

23.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

About 11.3% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under the age of eighteen and 21.4% of those 65 or over.