The Spirit Lake Massacre Log Cabin, also known as the Gardner Log Cabin, is located in

Arnolds Park, Iowa Arnolds Park is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,110 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 1,162 population in the 2000 census. Geography Arnolds Park is located at (43.365636, -95.129805). According to th ...

, United States. Rowland Gardner had led a group of settlers into the region in 1856, and he built this cabin in July of that year. On March 8, 1857, a band of renegade Wahpekuta Sioux who had been alienated from the tribal structure attacked the Gardner family and other settlers in the immediate area in an incident known as the

Spirit Lake Massacre The Spirit Lake Massacre (March 8–12, 1857) was an attack by a ''Wahpekute'' band of Santee Sioux on scattered Iowa frontier settlements during a severe winter. Suffering a shortage of food, the renegade chief Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point) led 14 ...

. Led by Inkpaduta, the band of outlaws raided both Indians and white settlers for a period of about 30 years. with Outing (1885) (14595969769)

The massacre accelerated the US government's removal of the remaining Sioux from

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and it slowed the rate of settlement in the region for a period of time. The raid actually began in another cabin, but this cabin gained notoriety because Gardner's 13-year-old daughter Abagail survived the attack, was taken captive, and was later ransomed by the

Yankton Sioux The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...

. Abbie Gardner-Sharp published an account of the massacre, and was able to gain possession of the cabin that she ran as a museum. The state erected a monument to the victims near the cabin in 1895. After Gardner-Sharp died in 1921 the state of Iowa acquired the property and the state historical society continues to operate the cabin as a museum. The cabin was a setting of

MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...

's novel ''Spirit Lake'' (1961). It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973.

References

Houses completed in 1856 Rustic architecture in Iowa Log cabins in the United States Historic house museums in Iowa Museums in Dickinson County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dickinson County, Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa {{Iowa-struct-stub