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Iowa Great Lakes Region ~ a historical perspective...

Dickinson County, the smallest county in land area, is named in honor of Daniel S. Dickinson, a lawyer and senator from New York.

In the summer of 1856 Rowland Gardner came from Cerro Gordo County to settle. He and his family erected cabins, which came to be known as Gardner's Grove. Soon after many families started to settle in the area. But by the end of the year the population was only 40 residents, half of that being children.

In the winter of 1856-1857 a renegade band of Sioux Indians attacked the settlers around the lake, killing all but four women. Later, two of the four women were murdered and the remaining two were rescued. For six days the ravaging and pillaging of settlements and killing of livestock continued. Word of the "Spirit Lake Massacre" finally reached Fort Dodge. An expedition was launched to pursue the Indians, but the main job turned out to be burying the dead.

Following the massacre there was a large increase in settlers, especially in the summer. This second wave of pioneers organized the county for independence. A petition was sent to the judge in Woodbury County, a seven-day journey by horseback, asking for a separate organization. An election was held calling for county officials, and on August 4, 1857 Dickinson County was formed.

(Taken from History of County Governments in Iowa, published in 1992 by the Iowa State Association of Counties, Des Moines, Iowa)

MASSACRE MONUMENT
This monument, erected on Pillsbury Point on West Okoboji, Lake, Arnolds Park, Iowa, was dedicated by the 25th General Assembly of Iowa on July 25, 1895. Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp purchased these two lots in 1891 and deeded the south lot to the State of Iowa for the monument site. The bronze tablets list the forty victims here reinterred.

GARDNER-LUCE CABIN SITES
The Gardener Cabin is the only surviving structure of the Indian massacre, and has been designated a historical place in " A National Register of Historic Places". The Iowa State Historical Society reconstructed the cabin and dedicated it August 4, 1975.
The Rowland Gardners, nine members in all, came by covered wagon on July 16, 1856.The entire family, except Abbie and her sister Eliza, died on March 8, 1857 during an attack by a renegade band of Sioux Indians.
The Luce family, their cabin not yet completed, was living with the Gardners at the time of the massacre. Those murdered included Rowland Gardner, his wife Frances M. Smith Gardner, Rowland Jr., their oldest daughter, Mary M. Luce, and her two small children. The bodies of Robert Clark, who was temporarily living with the families, and Harvey Luce were found together where they had been ambushed while on a mission to warn the Howes and the Thatchers living on East Okoboji.
Abbie was taken hostage by the Indians and was ransomed for blankets, horses, ammunition, tobacco, calico, ribbons and money. She was reunited with her sister Eliza a few months later. Abbie married Caswell Sharp and returned and bought the cabin and the surrounding grounds. The first religious service in the county was held at this cabin on May 11, 1857.

JAMES MATTOCK CABIN
The James Mattock cabin, where James, his wife and five children lived, along with Mr. Robert Madison, was destroyed and the people within were burned by Inpadutah and his band of renegade Indians. After the attack at the Gardner cabin the Indians retraced their path past the Mattock cabin. This site, on Highway 71, is at the extreme north edge of Arnolds Park.

GRANGER CABIN
This marker, on the lawn of the present Okoboji Police Station on Highway 71, marks the location of the Granger Cabin, which was occupied by Carl Granger, another victim of the massacre. Dr I.H. Harriot and Bertell A. Synder were also murdered, as was Joseph Harshman who had arrived only the night before. All were young bachelors from Red Wing, Minnesota.

JOEL HOWE CABIN
The family of Joel Howe, his wife and six children, was murdered by the renegades. This cabin was located on the east shore of East Okoboji, about four miles from the Gardner site. The marker is placed on the roadside just north of the YMCA Camp Foster turn off.

THATCHER-NOBLE CABIN
Following the same highway, the Thatcher and Noble markers are a mile north of the Howe site on the east side of East Okoboji. The Thatcher family was sharing their cabin with the Noble family while they were in the process of building. Mrs. Noble was a daughter of the Howes and a cousin of Mrs. Thatcher. Mr. Noble, their young child, Mr. Ryan, a brother-in-law, and the Thatcher baby were murdered. Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Thatcher were taken captive and Mrs. Noble was killed when she refused the advances of an Indian. Mrs. Thatcher was drowned in an icy stream near Flandreau, Minnesota when she fell from a log while crossing the stream and the Indians held her under.

MARBLE CABIN MARKER
The Marble Cabin marker is located midway on the west shore of Spirit Lake. On March 10, 1857, Inkpadutah, his Sioux warriors and their captives crossed West Okoboji on the ice and went up the west side of Big Spirit Lake to the William Marble home. Their arrival was totally unexpected. Mr. Marble was shot and his wife was taken hostage. On May 6, 1857, two Yellow Medicine Reservation Indians traded blankets, ammunition and guns for her.

OLD FORT
The "Old Fort" site of the Army encampment. This company was enlisted in pursuance of a special order of the Secretary of War and operated as an independent organization from the fall of 1861 to the spring of 1863. They later joined the Seventh Iowa Cavalry as Company I, under the leadership of A. Kingman. The building was constructed of logs, measured 25 feet by 30 feet, and had a shake roof and puncheon floor and door. This marker is located on north Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake.

SITE OF OLD STOCKADE
On August 23, 1916, a granite boulder was placed on the front lawn of the present Dickinson County Court House. The bronze plaque dedicates this site to the "Pioneers of 1862". This was the location of the old stockade where upwards of forty families sought shelter from the Indians. Many who were taken to this stockade as children were present for the dedication in 1916.