Abbie Gardner-Sharp: Difference between revisions
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Abbie Gardner-Sharp (1843–January 17, 1921)<ref>''The Spirit Lake Massacre and the Captivity of Abbie Gardner'' (Expanded, Annotated), 2015, BIG BYTE BOOKS</ref> |
Abbie Gardner-Sharp (1843–January 17, 1921)<ref>''The Spirit Lake Massacre and the Captivity of Abbie Gardner'' (Expanded, Annotated), 2015, BIG BYTE BOOKS</ref> |
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[[File:Abbie Gardner Sharp - History of Iowa.jpg|thumb|Abbie Gardner-Sharp]] |
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People worldwide have long been fascinated by captive narratives of 19th century whites taken by [[Native Americans]] were more common than Americans realize today. Although Abbie Gardner’s account of her abduction and captivity is considered one of the best. Gardner’s had a long history of illness after the event due to what we today call [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.]] |
People worldwide have long been fascinated by captive narratives of 19th century whites taken by [[Native Americans]] were more common than Americans realize today. Although Abbie Gardner’s account of her abduction and captivity is considered one of the best. Gardner’s had a long history of illness after the event due to what we today call [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.]] |
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Revision as of 03:24, 28 August 2020
Abbie Gardner-Sharp (1843–January 17, 1921)[1]
People worldwide have long been fascinated by captive narratives of 19th century whites taken by Native Americans were more common than Americans realize today. Although Abbie Gardner’s account of her abduction and captivity is considered one of the best. Gardner’s had a long history of illness after the event due to what we today call post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Abbie relates the charge she had heard that Inkpaduta and his band were considered outcasts by other Sioux. This is untrue, as they had friendly visits with other bands while she was a captive. After the 1862 Dakota War in Minnesota and other battles with whites, Inkpaduta migrated to the west, eventually uniting with the Lakota Sioux and defeating the 7th Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer at the Little Bighorn in June, 1876. He fled to Canada with Sitting Bull’s people.
Historian Paul N. Beck has written an extensive biography of Inkpaduta that sweeps away many of the myths (and errors) about this Santee chief: “Beck draws on Indian agents’ correspondence, journals, and other sources to paint a broader picture of the whole person, showing him to have been not only a courageous warrior but also a dedicated family man and tribal leader who got along reasonably well with whites for most of his life.”[2]
That said, the fascination with Abbie Gardner’s account is its detail and emotional content. She spares the reader little, providing graphic descriptions of the murders of her family and friends.
As the writer states below, she was born in 1843 to Rowland and Frances Gardner. After the events related in this book, she married at the tender age of 14 to Casville Sharp (then 18 years old), to whom she was wed until her death and with whom she had three children. This book provided a nice income for Abbie and her family, as it went into seven editions within her lifetime. In 1891, she was able to purchase the property and cabin from which she was abducted and near where her parents and siblings were buried. The site became a popular tourist attraction and she operated it as a small museum and gift shop.
Abbie died on January 17, 1921 and was buried with her birth family near the Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin, which still stands near Arnold’s Park in Spirit Lake, Iowa.