Spirit Lake Massacre

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The Spirit Lake Massacre was a minor uprising by members of the Wahpetuke, Dakota (Sioux), in protest of the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. Led by local chieftain Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point), a group of 14 Sioux attacked Spirit Lake, a settlement of people from Milford, Massachusetts in the northwestern territory of Iowa near the Minnesota border. The Sioux proceeded to kill between 35 and 40 settlers from March 8-9, 1857. Abbie Gardner was the only survivor of the massacre, being kidnapped by the Sioux. Years later she was rescued, and returned to Spirit Lake.

Although initially thought to have been committed by outlaws, the massacre would be the first of a series of incidents leading up to the Sioux uprising in Minnesota only five years later. The former site of the Spirit Lake settlement is now occupied by Camp Foster, a YMCA youth summer camp, where several legends and ghost stories stemming from the incident still exist; among which are psychic accounts of contacting the "friendly" spirit of Abigail Gardner, others claim to have had their furniture rearranged at their home after a visit to the Gardner Cabin.

Contents 1 Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin 2 Fiction and film 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit] Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin

The Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin, Gardner's original cabin, still stands at the memorial site, and is operated by the operated by the State Historical Society of Iowa. The cabin has been restored to its 1856 appearance, and the park's visitor center features artifacts relating to the period, the settlers and Sioux.

[edit] Fiction and film

The massacre provided a central theme for author MacKinlay Kantor's historical novel Spirit Lake. It was also later depicted in the silent film With Sitting Bull at the Spirit Lake Massacre in 1927.

[edit] References

• Keenan, Jerry. Encyclopedia of American Indian Wars, ABC-CLIO, Inc.: California, 1997.

[edit] Further reading

• Kantor, MacKinlay. Spirit Lake.
• Carley, Kenneth. The Sioux Uprising of 1862. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976.
• Meyer, Roy W. History of the Santee Sioux: United States Indian Policy on Trial. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1967.
• Sharp, Abbie Gardner. History of the Spirit Lake Massacre. Des Moines: Iowa Printing, 1892.

[edit] External links

• The Spirit Lake Massacre is the Northern and Southern Border Brigades - History of the Iowa National Guard by Stephen N. Kallestad and David L. Snook
• Iowa History Project - Chapter XXI - The Spirit Lake Massacre
• Inkpaduta’s Revenge: The True Story of the Spirit Lake Massacre by David L. Bristow
• ANDREWS GENEALOGY AND ALLIANCES: 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre - Dickinson County, Iowa by Clara Berry Wyker
• IowaGreatLakes.com - The Spirit Lake Massacre
• Encyclopedia Britannica - Spirit Lake Massacre
• Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin - State Historical Society of Iowa