History of the Spirit Lake Massacre and Captivity of Miss Abbie Gardner by Abbie Gardner-Sharp, first published in 1902, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

Leader of the Santee Sioux, Inkpaduta (1815–79) participated in some of the most decisive battles of the northern Great Plains, including Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn. But the attack in 1857 on forty white settlers known as the Spirit Lake Massacre gave Inkpaduta the reputation of being the most brutal of all the Sioux leaders. Paul N. Beck now challenges a century and a half of bias to reassess the life and legacy of this important Dakota leader. In the most complete biography of Inkpaduta ever written, 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. Beck sheds new light on many poorly understood aspects of Inkpaduta’s life, including his journeys in the American West after the Spirit Lake Massacre. Beck reexamines Euro-American attitudes toward Indians and the stereotypes that shaped nineteenth-century writing, showing how they persisted in portrayals of Inkpaduta well into the twentieth century, even after more generous appreciations of American Indian cultures had become commonplace. Long considered a villain whose passion was murdering white settlers, Inkpaduta is here restored to more human dimensions. Inkpaduta: Dakota Leader shatters the myths that surrounded his life for too long and provides the most extensive reassessment of this leader’s life to date.

A scarce Iowa county history, important for its quite detailed account of Indian wars along the northwestern border of Iowa in the 1850s. A model of local history, with much relating to the Indian tribes of the region, white pioneers, an account of the Spirit Lake Massacre, Sully's expedition against the Indians, as well as on the eventual stability and development of Dickinson County. Includes an account of the captivity of Abigail Gardner.

A graphic novel dealing with the 1856/7 Spirit Lake Iowa massacre. A remarkably well balanced, informative graphic novel by well known artist Gary Kelley.

Long considered one of the best of the captive narratives from the 19th century, Abbie Gardner's thrilling and graphic tale of her abduction by a band of Santee Sioux in 1857 will captivate you from beginning to end. Barely 14 years old, her family was butchered before her eyes and she witnessed the deaths of two other women captives before her release by Chief Inkpaduta. Gardner suffered years of illness after her return to white culture but eventually made a successful and prosperous life with a family. This book went through seven editions in her lifetime and she eventually purchased the cabin and property from which she was abducted and turned them into a tourist attraction. The cabin still stands today near Spirit Lake, Iowa. Told from the view of a woman looking back three decades to her traumatic experience, Gardner used notes she had written down in the intervening years as well as public documents to produce a highly-readable and compelling narrative. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

At least fifty-six frontier forts once stood in, or within view of, what is now the state of Iowa. The earliest date to the 1680s, while the latest date to the Dakota uprising of 1862. Some were vast compounds housing hundreds of soldiers; others consisted of a few sheds built by a trader along a riverbank. Regardless of their size and function—William Whittaker and his contributors include any compound that was historically called a fort, whether stockaded or not, as well as all military installations—all sought to control and manipulate Indians to the advantage of European and American traders, governments, and settlers. Frontier Forts of Iowa draws extensively upon the archaeological and historical records to document this era of transformation from the seventeenth-century fur trade until almost all Indians had been removed from the region. The earliest European-constructed forts along the Mississippi, Des Moines, and Missouri rivers fostered a complex relationship between Indians and early traders. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1804, American military forts emerged in the Upper Midwest, defending the newly claimed territories from foreign armies, foreign traders, and foreign-supported Indians. After the War of 1812, new forts were built to control Indians until they could be moved out of the way of American settlers; forts of this period, which made extensive use of roads and trails, teamed a military presence with an Indian agent who negotiated treaties and regulated trade. The final phase of fort construction in Iowa occurred in response to the Spirit Lake massacre and the Dakota uprising; the complete removal of the Dakota in 1863 marked the end of frontier forts in a state now almost completely settled by Euro-Americans. By focusing on the archaeological evidence produced by many years of excavations and by supporting their words with a wealth of maps and illustrations, the authors uncover the past and connect it with the real history of real places. In so doing they illuminate the complicated and dramatic history of the Upper Midwest in a time of enormous change. Past is linked to present in the form of a section on visiting original and reconstructed forts today. Contributors: Gayle F. Carlson Jeffrey T. Carr Lance M. Foster Kathryn E. M. Gourley Marshall B. McKusick Cindy L. Nagel David J. Nolan Cynthia L. Peterson Leah D. Rogers Regena Jo Schantz Christopher M. Schoen Vicki L. Twinde-Javner William E. Whittaker