Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-03-06

GRE, DuC DIS d matter OF TACT 1t did not
occur on Spirit Lake but on Lake Oki
boil. A settlement had been started
on Lake Okoboji in the summer of
1856. There were some forty or fifty
settlers in the settlement One of the
leaders in the pioneer settlement was
Rowland Gardner. Without stopping
to go into the causes leading to the
massacre | propose to give a brief
sketch of the occurrence and of the
place as it is today. For full partic
ulars OF the tragedy 1 must refer you
to the book written by the lone survi-
vor OF that fearful time. The book is
written by Abigail Gardner Sharp. She
is the sole survivor of that frightful
episode.
In March, 1857, then. the Indians
under the pretense of friendship, at
tackled the little settlement and taking
each man unawares killed more than
forty of the settlers, whose names we
will give as We proceed. Rowland
Gardners house was entered by an In
dian who asked for -four AS he was
STOPPING over the barrelto get the flour
the Indian shot him, right in the pres
ence of his wife and children. The
rest of the family were then slain ex
cept Abigail, whom they reserved fol
even worse fate. She was taken
prisoner. She saw the shooting OF
her father and the murder of the chill
dren, and also of a number of the
other settlers. The children We're not
| considered worth shooting, so they
would pick them up by the feet and
dash their brain 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.
dians started off on their journey tc
the northwest They took with them
Abigail Gardner and three other girls
and women. They We're Mrs. Thatcher
Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Marble. All were
cruelty murdered, however, before they
got very far except Mrs. Marble anC
Abigail Gardners The rescue of eact
sounds like the stories of the Revolu
tionary times. Alice of Old Vim
cennes" had no more startling expe
riences than Abigail Gardner, and il
seems queer that no romancer has
ever woven the true story into book
of wonderful interest. Mrs. Marble
was rescued by come friendly Indians
who took her to trading post in Min
nesota, and she was ransomed by the
missionaries and government authori
ties stationed at that place
| Miss Abigail Gardner was kept {
captive by the villaineus Sioux fol
three months, which she says seems
to her to have been the longes
period of her life. She was subjected
to every indignity. The big buck.
seemed to delight in frightening her
They would make all sorts of threat:
and would feint motions to kill her ant
mangle her, all for the purpose of dis
tressing her as much as possible.
l visited the scene of the massacr,
some time ago and got the story O
Abigail Gardner from her own lips. 1
is more interesting than any of Coop
er's tales, and lays in the shade an.
of the historical romances of the day
During her captivity she was com
PEELED to walk day in and day out, TO
they were constantly on the move. [
was a cold, wet spring and the In
dams kept moving, following the game
They had with them their families