Set Of Four Cabinet Card Photographs Of Abbie Gardner-Sharp, Her Family's Cabin, And Scenes Of The Spirit Lake Massacre In Iowa In 1857.

VARIOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Other works by VARIOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Publication: Circa 1890s, Various Cities

At the age of 13, Abigail Gardner's family home was attacked by 15 renegade Sioux Indians who killed her family and many neighbors, and carried her and 3 other women away into captivity. Abigail was ransomed 3 months later. She told her story in a short pamphlet shortly after her return, and published a longer book in 1885. In 1891 she purchased the property and cabin where she had witnessed the killing of her family, a site now cared for by the State of Iowa. The four Photographs are described in full as follows. PHOTOGRAPH #1-A Cabinet Card Studio Photograph of Abbie Gardner-Sharp. Photograph: 4" x 5.5". Mount: 4.25" x 6.5". Abbie stands in an ornate black dress and jacket, with a high collar. She is holding a small rose corsage to her chest. A clean, sharp image with the following printed below the image: ABBIE GARDNER SHARP, Who was taken captive in the Spirit Lake Massacre March 8, 1857 (Copyrighted.). On verso is printed a poem entitled The Heroine Of Okoboji, "written by Tillie Franklin, a girl of twelve years, upon visiting the house where the Gardner family was killed by Indians". PHOTOGRAPH #2- Photograph: 5.5" x 3.875". Mount: 6.5" x 4.25". A Cabinet Card Photograph of Abbie Gardner-Sharp standing outside the front door of her family cabin. A relative close-up of the cabin, as it occupies 60% of the frame. A clear view of the cabin with wooded background. Abbie stands, in full length, dark dress a few feet outside the front door. With exception of broken glass in upstairs window, cabin appears in good condition. A clean, clear photograph. At right edge of mount is printed: Star Gallery, Evans, Spirit Lake, Iowa. Verso of mount is printed with pictorial border, and Evans, Spirit Lake, Iowa printed centrally. PHOTOGRAPH #3- A Cabinet Card Photograph of Abbie Gardner-Sharp standing at the edge of a wooded area next to a large, 3 foot high group of rocks. Photograph: 5.375' x 4". Mount: 6.5" x 4.25". A fairly close-up photograph of Abbie with a wooded background. She stands, in the same dress she wore in Photograph #2, along a crude fenceline and next to the large group of large stones. Grave marker(?), remnant of ruins of another family's home(?),...unknown to us. A clean, clear image. At right edge of mount is printed: Evans, Artist, Lakefield, Minn. Verso is blank. PHOTOGRAPH #4- A Cabinet Card Photograph of a Painting of the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Gardner Cabin. Photograph: 5.625" x 3.75". Mount: 6.5" x 4.25". The painting is a snowy scene of the Gardner Cabin showing the bodies of 3 children and two women dead in the snow outside the front door of the cabin. Abigail is being led away by 8 armed Indians, armed with rifles and tomahawks. At right edge of mount is printed: O. C. Burdick Minneapolis. Verso of mount is printed with ornate border with central image reading: Photographic Studio of O. C. Burdick 301 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis, Minn. A clean, clear image. A rare set of Cabinet Card Photographs in exceptional clean, clear condition. Historical records of a well-known massacre and resultant captivity. Abbie's return to purchase and become caretaker for her family's cabin, the scene of such a horrific tragedy, is unique and noteworthy...as is this group of images of her...collected and carefully cared for by someone.

Inventory Number: 54041