Inkpaduta, Abbie, and The Spirit Lake Massacre
tales
from the
iowa great
lakes
To complement this episode, we wanted to explore the site where The Abbie Gardner Cabin is today.
Let's start with how the Dakota people interacted with this area. Their historical land extended far into present-day Canada and much of the Central Plains. Dakota tribes traveled to these lakes in the summer, which they called Mini-Wakan, meaning 'Spirit Water' in their language group.
There are two paintings by Seth Eastman, a 19th-century illustrator for the U.S. Army, depicting nomadic Dakota life. The first is a Dakota summer lodge along an unnamed river (approx. 1846). The second is a group of Dakota playing a ballgame on an icy Minnesota River, then called The St. Peter River (1848). These images capture small parts of the traditional way of life that Inkpaduta would have followed.
Since it was built, The Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin has sat in the same place. Construction started in the summer of 1856. The hand-drawn map shows where the other settler's cabins were in the Spirit Lake Massacre.
When the party from Fort Dodge arrived to bury the bodies of the 38 settlers, they left some grave markers. You'll see a stereoscope of a pile of rocks that marked where Abbie's family was laid to rest.
After the massacre, The Gardner Cabin remained a private residence. J.S. Prescott lived in it and later sold it to Stephen Olin Pillsbury. The cabin had additions, including a shed and a second level.
When Abbie returned to The Iowa Great Lakes in 1891 with her children, she used the money from her memoir to purchase the cabin. According to later editions of her book, the cabin was in disrepair, and she restored it. Initially, Abbie told stories in a canvas tent next to the cabin. But she built a home on the property as the tourist site grew. She also added a framework with lattice around the cabin so non-paying visitors could not see it, which you can see in several pictures.
In the winter of 1893-1894, Abbie lived in Des Moines and advocated to build a commemorative monument on her property. The state allocated $5,000 to build the memorial. As we discuss in the episode, the monument's dedication day welcomed over five thousand people, including Chetanmaza, who is pictured below. The rocks that marked her family's burial were also constructed into a headstone, which you can see her standing next to below.
When Abbie died in 1921, she left the property to her son and daughter-in-law, Albert and Mary Sharp. To preserve the site, they sold the property to The Iowa Conservation Commission in 1941. They removed the framework around the cabin.
In 1974, ownership was transferred to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Architects and archaeologists started massive research projects and returned the cabin to resemble its 1856 appearance. Today, a portion of Abbie Gardner Sharp's original tourist museum is in the visitor's center, and the interior of the cabin is furnished with pioneer artifacts gathered by Abbie. The rest are at The Dickinson County History Museum in Spirit Lake.
episode info
To complement this episode, we wanted to explore the site where The Abbie Gardner Cabin is today.
Let's start with how the Dakota people interacted with this area. Their historical land extended far into present-day Canada and much of the Central Plains. Dakota tribes traveled to these lakes in the summer, which they called Mini-Wakan, meaning 'Spirit Water' in their language group.
There are two paintings by Seth Eastman, a 19th-century illustrator for the U.S. Army, depicting nomadic Dakota life. The first is a Dakota summer lodge along an unnamed river (approx. 1846). The second is a group of Dakota playing a ballgame on an icy Minnesota River, then called The St. Peter River (1848). These images capture small parts of the traditional way of life that Inkpaduta would have followed.
Since it was built in the summer of 1857, The Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin has sat in the same place. The hand-drawn map shows where the other settler's cabins were in the Spirit Lake Massacre.
When the party from Fort Dodge arrived to bury the bodies of the 38 settlers, they left some grave markers. You'll see a stereoscope of a pile of rocks that marked where Abbie's family was laid to rest.
After the massacre, The Garden Cabin remained a private residence. J.S. Prescott lived in it and later sold it to Stephen Olin Pillsbury. The cabin had additions, including a shed and a second level.
When Abbie returned to The Iowa Great Lakes in 1891 with her children, she used the money to purchase the cabin. According to later editions of her memoir, she restored it. Initially, Abbie told stories in a canvas tent next to the cabin. But she built a home on the property as the tourist site grew. She also added a framework with lattice around the cabin so non-paying visitors could not see it, which you can see in one of the last pictures.
In the winter of 1893-1894, Abbie lived in Des Moines and advocated to build a commemorative monument on her property. The state allocated $5,000 to build the memorial. As we discuss in the episode, the monument's dedication day welcomed over five thousand people, including Chetanmaza, who is pictured below. The rocks that marked her family's burial were also constructed into a headstone, which you can see her standing next to below.
When Abbie died in 1921, she left the property to her son and daughter-in-law, Albert and Mary Sharp. To preserve the site, they sold the property to The Iowa Conservation Commission in 1941. They removed the framework around the cabin. In 1974, ownership was transferred to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Architects and archaeologists started massive research projects and returned the cabin to resemble its 1856 appearance. Today, a portion of Abbie Gardner Sharp's original tourist museum is in the visitor's center, and the interior of the cabin is furnished with pioneer artifacts gathered by Abbie. The rest are at The Dickinson County History Museum in Spirit Lake.
episode info
episode info
- Interviews with Dr. Paul Beck, History Professor at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and Mary Dreier, Director of The Dickinson County Museum
- "Inkpaduta: Dakota Leader" by Paul Beck
- "History of the Spirit Lake Massacre and Captivity of Miss Abbie Gardner" by Abbie Gardner Sharp
- "A History of Dickinson County, Iowa" by R.A. Smith, 1902
- "History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa" by The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1917
- Buy Dr. Beck's book, "Inkpaduta: Dakota Leader", on Amazon and Birchbark Books in Minneapolis
- Check out the books available from The Dickinson County Museum shop
- Dr. Beck references "Indian Boyhood" by Charles Eastman (1902) many times in his book. You can purchase it on Amazon and Birchbark Books in Minneapolis
- "The Dakota Way of Life" by Ella Cara Deloria (2023) accumulates a lifetime of researching Dakota and Lakota ways of life. Her work was not published during her lifetime, but since its release in 2023, its won numerous awards. You can purchase it on Amazon and Birchbark Books in Minneapolis
- Explore the Dakota relationship with the state of Minnesota with the Bdote Memory Map.
