[150] Pond’s _The Dakotas or Sioux in Minnesota as They Were in 1834_
in the _Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society_, Vol. XII,
pp. 436, 437.
[151] _The Spirit Lake Massacre and Relief Expedition_ in the _Roster
and Record of Iowa Soldiers_, Vol. VI, p. 893; Mrs. Sharp’s _Spirit
Lake Massacre_ (1902 edition), pp. 63, 64; Smith’s _History of
Dickinson County, Iowa_, p. 65.
[152] Concerning the events at the Gardner cabin we must, of
necessity, rely upon the statements of Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp who
remained the only living witness of the scene. See Mrs. Sharp’s
_History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902 edition), pp. 63-65.
[153] Smith’s _History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, pp. 65, 66;
Carpenter’s _The Spirit Lake Massacre_ in the _Midland Monthly_, Vol.
IV, p. 21; Gue’s _History of Iowa_, Vol. I, pp. 297, 298; Mrs. Sharp’s
_History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902 edition), pp. 65-67.
[154] Richman’s _The Tragedy at Minnewaukon_ in _John Brown among the
Quakers_, pp. 214-216; Mrs. Sharp’s _History of the Spirit Lake
Massacre_ (1902 edition), pp. 67-71; Carpenter’s _The Spirit Lake
Massacre_ in the _Midland Monthly_, Vol. IV, p. 21.
[155] Pond’s _The Dakotas or Sioux in Minnesota as They were in 1834_
in the _Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society_, Vol. XII,
pp. 437, 438.
[156] Mrs. Sharp’s _History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902
edition), p. 73.
[157] See Mrs. Sharp’s _History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902
edition), p. 73, where the statement is made that five men, two women,
and four children were killed at the Mattock cabin.
[158] Hughes’s _Causes and Results of the Inkpaduta Massacre_ in the
_Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society_, Vol. XII, pp. 271,
272.
But there is a third view as to the outcome of the conflict at the
Mattock cabin. This version is sponsored by Major William Williams who
was a member of the relief expedition sent from Fort Dodge. Major
Williams believed that the Indians purposely concealed their losses.
In his report to Governor Grimes, made upon his return to Fort Dodge
under date of April 12th, he stated that “the number of Indians killed
or wounded must be from fifteen to twenty.”--(Gue’s _History of Iowa_,
Vol. I, p. 299.) This estimate would seem to be entirely too high.
Only under exceptionally favorable conditions would it have been
possible for five men, suffering every possible handicap, to have
killed or wounded so many concealed enemies. Again, there were in all
probability not more than fifteen or twenty warriors in the party of
the red men. The loss or crippling of such a number would have meant
practical annihilation. Later when the party was encountered in its
flight from the scene of the massacre, various individuals who had the
opportunity of recognizing the individual members of the band reported
them to be the same in membership as at the beginning of the raid at
Smithland. Thus the statement of Major Williams could not have been
accurate. Mrs. Sharp speaks of only one Indian as being injured and of
no deaths--which is more probable.
[159] Mrs. Sharp’s _History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902
edition), p. 74.