At the time of the Dakota uprising of 1862, Julius Boelter was just eight months old and was living with his parents, John and Justina, and his sisters, Ottilie and Emelia, in the southeast quarter of section 34, Flora Township in Renville County, Minnesota. Michael Boelter (Julius' uncle) and his family lived next to them in section 35. The area was known as the Middle Creek settlement. Several in the community were killed by Indians in an attack on August 18, 1862, the first day of the Dakota uprising. Among those killed was Julius' father, John Boelter. Julius, his mother, and his sisters survived the attack. His uncle, Michael Boelter, also survived, but his wife and children were killed. The five survivors were fleeing together, but were soon separated. Michael, carrying Julius, managed to reach Ft. Ridgely, some twenty miles away. The others, frightened and unable to keep up with Michael, hid in a nearby wooded area and remained hidden there for several weeks. Julius' sister, Emelia, died of exposure and starvation in the fifth week. When the weather got much colder in mid October, his mother and surviving sister, Ottilie, returned to their home where soldiers of a search party found them, nearly starved to death, in their ninth week of hiding. Julius was moved from Ft. Ridgely to St. Peter, and then to St. Paul. It was first assumed that both of his parents were killed, and he was taken to Wisconsin where relatives and friends of the family cared for him. He was eventually reunited with his mother and sister. Michael Boelter married Justina Boelter (his widowed sister in law), and thus he became Julius Boelter's stepfather on September 13, 1863. Julius married Sophia Dora Fellman on December 26, 1889. They had four children: Ervin, Mable, Clarence, and Harold. Julius died in 1908 at age 47.