1862, a few days after the U.S. victory at the Battle of Wood Lake, 269 prisoners who had been taken captive during the conflict were released to Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley at a spot that became known as Camp Release, which was located on a bluff overlooking the valley and the present-day site of Montevideo.

[3] It was the first property added to the state park system and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The inscription on the northern side of the monument states that the release was "The result mainly of the signal victory over the hostile Sioux at Wood Lake by Minnesota troops under command of General Henry H. Sibley, all being incidents of the Great Sioux Indian Massacre.

The war leaders and many of their followers fled Minnesota, and the Dakota peace group sent a message to Sibley to arrange the prisoner release three days later.

The Camp Release Marker concludes by explaining that the Dakota who "surrendered" included members of the peace faction:Many of the peace faction who surrendered to Sibley's army at Camp Release were among the Dakota exiled from Minnesota the following year.