Lorenzo Porter Lee

History of Spirit Lake Massacre! Lorenzo Porter Lee

As indicated by the title, this event caused quite a sensation. The Gardiner family had moved from Seneca, New York, to the lovely little settlement of Spirit Lake on the Iowa frontier. Local Indians, apparently feeling deprived of provisions, descended upton the settlement, killing the men and children, and capturing fourteen-year-old Abigail and three other women. She endured a terrifying ordeal of brutality and hardship on her six-week journey to the Sioux village where she was sold to another tribe, who in turn took her to Minnesota for ransom. Lorenzo Porter Lee had just arrived in St. Paul at the time fourteen-year-old Abbie Gardiner was delivered by the Indians to Governor Samuel Medary of the Territory of Minnesota. Colonel Lee was commissioned by Governor Medary to accompany Abbie to Fort Dodge with the hope of finding her sister, Eliza. It was while he was with Abbie on this trip that Colonel Lee learned and set down many of the lurid details she related to him. A classic captivity account.