A previous version of this story stated certain paintings displayed at the Abbie Gardner Cabin Museum were painted by Gardner herself. While the Dickinson County Museum houses some items painted by Gardner, it is unclear whether she herself painted the depictions of the Spirit Lake Massacre which once hung in her pioneer museum. This story was updated March 10, 2022.
Local group aims to preserve Gardner Cabin site
By Seth Boyes - News Editor
A local group of history enthusiasts hopes to help preserve not only the Gardner Cabin Museum — site of the infamous Spirit Lake Massacre — but also the story behind the tragic events.
The Friends of the Abbie Gardner Cabin Historic Site is coordinating with the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and raising funds in an effort to help care for the historic cabin property in Arnolds Park. The project kicked off with a soft launch on Tuesday — the 165th anniversary of the killings. Anita Bomgaars, president of the friends group, said the nonprofit plans to schedule a number of public events in the near future in order to engage the Lakes Area community.
Bomgaars said the Gardner Cabin, located near Pillsbury Point in modern day Arnolds Park, holds a great deal of historical significance in the region, and she said preserving the grounds will also preserve the story which made the cabin one of the state's earliest tourist destinations.
"The story is nearly as relevant today — even with what's happening in Ukraine — as it was 165 years ago," Bomgaars said.
A PATH TO BLOODSHED
The Gardner family set out across the western frontier from New York, moving through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in the early 1850s and settling for a time in north-central Iowa before heading west again in the spring of 1856, according to the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. Bomgaars said the family's patriarch Rowland Gardner was drawn to the natural beauty of the area's lakes.
The family arrived in the Okoboji area in July that year — almost all of them would be dead eight months later.
Bomgaars pointed out several hardships the native population endured ahead of the massacre. An Iowa settler named Henry Lott, whom historical accounts describe as a whiskey trader and horse thief, murdered a native named Sintomniduta in 1854 north of Humbolt. Lott and his son also proceeded to kill Sintomniduta's extended family before fleeing west.
The Sioux war chief Inkpaduta — Sintomniduta's brother, half-brother or blood brother depending on the account — sought justice for the killings from nearby authorities.
Thomas Hughes of the Minnesota Historical Society called the settlers' murder investigation and proceedings "a farce and a joke," in 1908, adding "no further effort was made by the authorities to apprehend the murderers, though the Indians were pacified with many fair promises all that year and the next.”
Bomgaars noted the U.S. government had also not been forthcoming with payments promised to natives in the region, and the winter of 1856 was especially harsh, making wild game and other supplies scarce for native and settler alike. She said the various factors made for an explosive situation. Hughes expressed a similar opinion about 50 years after the massacre.
"That such a wild, expatriated band of savages, already ill disposed toward the whites because of the appropriation of their lands, should resort to desperate deeds under such added provocation, is not to be wondered at," Hughes wrote.
Inkpaduta's band began to move in January of 1857, following the Little Sioux River and clashing with settlers in Woodbury County where the natives were forced out of the Smithland area without food or guns with which to hunt game in the deep snow.
Inkpaduta and his group passed through Gillet Grove before heading north, and they arrived at the Gardner Cabin on March 8. The natives demanded food from the families whose cabins dotted the local chain of lakes. Regardless of how Inkpaduta's men were received, each encounter ended in violence. More than 30 settlers were killed over a series of attacks, and four women were taken captive — 13-year-old Abbie Gardner among them.
Only two of the women would live long enough to return home.
The raiding party headed north to present day Jackson, Minnesota, and attacked the settlement there — Gardner's older sister Eliza happened to be at that very place and "cast bullets while the settlers drove the Indians away by firing through loop holes," according to archives of the Spirit Lake Beacon.
From there, Inkpaduta and his band took their captives and headed west into the Dakota territories. Margaret Ann Marble was the first captive to be ransomed in May that year — Elizabeth Thatcher had already been killed along the way, and Lydia Noble would also be killed before the teenage Gardner was ransomed about 80 days after her capture.
MORE TO BE TOLD
Bomgaars said Gardner likely saw many things during her time in captivity few if any settlers had an opportunity to witness at that time.
Gardner later wrote her autobiographical account and eventually returned to the Lakes Area, purchasing her family's former home in 1891 and establishing the museum which still stands today. Bomgaars said, unfortunately, that is often where Gardner's story ends in the minds of many — but she says there's much more to be told.
Bomgaars said Gardner eventually developed an appreciation for the better aspects of Sioux culture. She said Gardner also connected with Rev. Samuel Pillsbury, who had purchased the Gardner's family cabin after the massacre, and Gardner eventually became involved in the Christian Science movement — archives of the Spirit Lake Beacon mention Christian Science events taking place at the local Presbyterian Church as early as March of 1888. It was during this time that Bomgaars says Gardner found forgiveness in her heart for those who had killed her family and taken her captive decades ago.
"She literally went to Flanders, South Dakota, to a Native American church — when Abbie was in her 50s — and she asked to speak to some of the very people she thought had maybe been a part of what happened to her, and she taught them about forgiveness," Bomgaars said.
Bomgaars went on to say that meeting marked the beginning of strong friendships with many natives, some of whom attended the dedication for a granite monument outside the log cabin in July of 1895. The Iowa legislature appropriated $5,000 for a granite obelisk, which still stands today.
"How many stories come fully around that way from the conflict to reconciliation? Very few," Bomgaars said. "And that last part of her story just isn't shared enough."
WORK TO BE DONE
Today, the cabin itself contains several pioneer household items which help demonstrate what life in those days was like for families like Gardner's. The nearby museum building houses a number of native artifacts, photos and even paintings which Gardner displayed in her museum. Bomgaars said the items in that collection are also vital in telling the full story of the Spirit Lake Massacre.
"Ideally, we would love to expand that, make it more relevant, modernize it and also include some more information in regards to the Indians of Iowa," Bomgaars said. "There really isn't a lot in Iowa that explains what happened during the 1700s and 1800s to a lot of the groups that were inhabiting Iowa. In all honesty, that leads and led into what happened in 1857."
She and the newly-formed group plan to bring a preservationist architect to the cabin site in order to conduct an analysis — something Bomgaars said is overdue. State Archaeologist John Doershuk is also planning a dig on the property to not only search for any relevant artifacts but also help further detail what may need to be done to preserve the property. Bomgaars indicated Doershuk will be joined by students from the University of Iowa — possibly as soon as June — and there may be opportunities for the local community to be involved in the dig as well.
Bomgaars said work on the cabin structure itself will likely have its limitations — the pioneer home is on the National Register of Historic Places. Gardner had actually added a second story to the cabin after purchasing it in 1891 to operate as her museum. She also had a lattice constructed to keep passersby from glimpsing the tourist attraction without paying their admission — 25 cents for adults at one time and a dime for children.
The museum was sold to the Iowa Conservation Commission in 1941, and it was passed to the State Historical Society of Iowa in 1974. State officials then began the work of restoring the cabin to its original single-story configuration.
Organizers with the Friends of the Abbie Gardner Cabin Historic Site haven't set a formal fundraising goal yet, as they expect the upcoming studies to guide them in that regard, but Bomgaars said she expects the group may need support from the Iowa Legislature.
"It's a little bit of a convoluted project, in that Abbie gave the cabin to the state of Iowa, and they will always own it, but we are the impetus group that's working with them," she said.
In the mean time, the group plans to host a number of public events in the coming weeks to peak local interest in the Gardner Cabin, with a hard opening for the restoration project expected in June.
Bomgaars and others have also been working with Mary Dreier, curator of the Dickinson County Museum, on the project. A number of pieces from the cabin site and other Gardner family items were donated to the Dickinson County Museum during the cabin's 1974 renovation. The museum plans to host an informal open house to highlight some of the artifacts and archives related to the Gardner family from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday.
Dreier recently uncovered glass slides in the museum's collection, which she said were once used as part of presentations given by Gardner's grandson. The slides have been converted to a digital format and are expected to be shown during a presentation next month.
"It's like the story is unfolding in front of us still," Bomgaars said. "It's kind of like Abbie wanted us to discover all this at a time when we can tell the full history and not just the sensationalized part."