THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE
THOMAS TRAKLE
THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE
THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE
PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA IN 1918 BY
THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS
IOWA
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The massacre of the white settlers in the region of Lake Okoboji andSpirit Lake in 1857 by a band of Indians under the leadership ofInkpaduta has come to be known as “The Spirit Lake Massacre”, althoughthe tragedy was for the most part enacted on the borders of LakeOkoboji. There seems, however, to be no substantial reason forrenaming the episode in the interest of geographical accuracy; and soin this volume the familiar designation of “The Spirit Lake Massacre”has been retained.
Office of the Superintendent and Editor
The State Historical Society of Iowa
Iowa City Iowa
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
It is probable that no event in the history of northwestern Iowa hasaroused more popular interest than that of the Spirit Lake Massacre ofMarch, 1857. Not alone in northwestern Iowa but also in the adjacentsections of Minnesota and South Dakota is the story of its events andassociated incidents well known.
The Spirit Lake Massacre came as the culminating episode in a longseries of incidents intimately connected with the settlement ofnorthern and western Iowa. For years previous to 1857 the Indians ofthe Siouan tribes had obstinately resisted white settlement and hadsucceeded in a marked degree in retarding the movement. It may be saidwith a reasonable degree of certainty that if the events of March,1857, had not occurred the settlement of this region would have beenpostponed for some years: the Massacre not only aroused theauthorities of the State of Iowa to the necessity of exerting theforce of military pressure upon the Indians to discourage or end theirforays, but it also enlisted the efforts of the Federal authorities inthe same direction. This joint interest and protection could haveonly one result—the retirement of the Sioux to the region of theMissouri and the rapid influx of white settlers. The Massacredefinitely settled the Indian question for Iowa: henceforth the redman ceased to play any important part in the history of thisCommonwealth.
While the following pages are, as far as practicable, based uponprimary materials, the writer acknowledges his obligation to manyother sources in the notes and references which follow the text. Sinceno adequate history of the Spirit Lake Massacre can be written whollyfrom primary materials, considerable reliance upon secondary sourceshas been found necessary in this work. Furthermore, the writer is wellaware that he has taken a number of new positions concerning causesand incidents of the Massacre; but in this he feels well sustained bythe preponderance of authority.
Without the unflagging interest and the tireless enthusiasm andencouragement of Dr. Benj. F. Shambaugh the more than four years ofresearch involved in this work would never have been undertaken orcarried through to its close. To many others