Warren sheaf., 1902-03-27
would pick them up by the feet and
dash their brains out against the trees

l N 5tsf u p (. b + asa
would pick them up by the feet and
dash their brains out against the trees
and the sides of the buildings.
| After all had been murdered and the
huts destroyed. and most of them
burned, and when the stock had been
killed off and the houses plundered Of
what little they contained, the In
dams started off on their journey to
the northwest They took with them
Abigail Gardner and three other girls
and women. 1'hey We're Mrs. Thatcher,
Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Marble. All were
cruelty murdered, however, before they
got very far except Mrs. Marble and
Abigail Gardner. The rescue of each
sounds like the stories of the Revolu-
tionary times. Alice of Old Vim
cennes" had no more startling eXpe-
riences than Abigail Gardner, and it
seems queer that no romancer has
| ever woven the true story into book
Of wonderful interest. Mrs. Marble
was rescued by some friendly Indians,
| who took her to Il trading post in Min
nesota, and she was ransomed by the
| ties stationed at that place.
Miss Abigail Gardner was kept
captive by the villainous Sioux for
three months, which she says seems
| to her to have been the longest
| period of her life. She was subjected
to every indignity. The big bucks
seemed to delight in frightening her.
o1I of tpr fc,
and would feint motions to kill her and
mangle her, all for the purpose of dis
tressing her as much as possible.
1 visited the scene Of the massacre
some time ago and got the story of Abb.
gail Gardner from her own lips. It
is more interesting than any of Coop
er's tales, and lays in the shade any
During her captivity she was COM
PEELED to walk day in and day out, for
they We're constantly on the move It
was cold, wet Spring and the In
dians kept moving, following the game.
They had with them their families
and their entire outfit. Buffaloes were
very plentiful in that part of Iowa and
lLty tOoh uSI ttS LII dS
Dakota, somewhere ON the Jim River.
A council Of war was held in which
all Of the big warriors took part. It
was evident to her that she was the
cause of the council and the subject OF
their deliberations. Nobody took any
pity on her, however. The warriors
would whet their knives in her pres
ence and they would point their pis-
tolls in her face. They gave her to un-
derstand that she was to be tortured
and killed. Finally an old squaw
seemed to have little femininity left
and she impaired the information that
she was to be returned to her own peo-
pie. That is, to the white trading
post in Minnesota. OF her own people
or of her settlement none remained ex-
cept sister, who was in Indiana the
time Of the massacre, and never came
back. She has never seen her since
One is not able to get much infOr-
nation from her on the period follow
ing the massacre. She dwells only on
the time of her captivity and on the
time since the massacre ground has
nGen maze State ground.
She, drifted from place to place, as
near as one can find out, and finally
she was married to Mr.. Sharp, and to
them two sons were born. Both were
married, and one, with his wife, has
since died, and both are buried in the
family lot. Her other son lives in
the vicinity Of the old massacre
ground
The State took up the matter of
erecting a monument to the pioneers
who gave up their lives to the cause
OF humanity, just as much as John the
Baptist did, or just as much as did
the Revolutionary Fathers. Whether
one loses his life in battle with an in
vading host or whether he is slain by
the savage Of the forest does not mat
ter He is martyr to the cause of
civilization. If there had not been
Daniel Boones and Captain Clarks and
Mad Anthony Waynes and General
Clusters and the Gardners and the
HoWes and the Luces there would
have been no progress and there would
be no place in which to talk politics
and to discuss religion and to find fault
with the government. In every age
and in every country there must be
sacrifice. There is no excellence
without great labor: and sometimes it
costs human life. 1t did cost human
| life at Okiboji in that stormy and
rigorous Spring Of 1857.
For many years no effort had been
| made to commemorate this bloody
! event. At one time some society or
other, 1 forgot what it was, had raised
$14 for the erection of a monument,
but it was not considered sufficient
to purchase much of shaft. It
would scarcely have bought a good
telegraph pole in that prairie country.
Wood was high. So the matter drop
ped Monument matters frequently
do drop. 1t took the whole United
States years to erect monument to
the Father of his country, so you
| 1,,1L @oo