ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Historical Society is marking the 150th anniversary of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 with a new exhibit and other programs.

The exhibit opens June 30 at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. Visitors can view documents, images and artifacts, and add comments about the war’s meaning.

The Historical Society also is launching an interactive website featuring oral histories, photographs, letters, newspapers and government documents. Staff members are recording oral histories from Dakota elders and settler descendants.

In May, the public can listen to stories told by descendants in a cellphone tour along the Minnesota River Valley.

The U.S.-Dakota War broke out in August 1862, with fighting lasting six weeks. Hundreds of settlers and soldiers were killed along with an unknown number of Dakota.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)