A Trip to Spirit Lake. 



Several years ago, my wife and 

 I, with a large party of Iowa den- 

 tists and their wives enjoyed a 

 week's vacation at Hotel Orleans 

 at Spirit Lake, Iowa. 



Sailing, rowing, bathing and 

 fishing were the sports enjoyed 

 and everybody had a good time. 



When the party broke up and 

 departed for their homes, Mrs. S. 

 and I decided to stay a few days 

 longer and put in a day at Lake 

 Okoboji. It was a beautiful morn- 

 ing when we drove away from the 

 Orleans. Passing through the lit- 

 tle town of Spirit Lake, the road 

 wound through the timber along 

 the shore of East Lake Okoboji. 

 We reached "Arnolds" at noon 

 and enjoyed a social dinner with 

 some old friends from Waterloo 

 and Des Moines. After dinner we 



strolled up the lake shore as far as "Pillsbury Point," then 

 back through the woods to the granite shaft erected by the 

 state of Iowa in memory of those who were slain in the Spirit 

 Lake massacre. 



Just south of the granite shaft stands the memorial pile, 

 built of stones gathered along the lake shores, and erected 

 by Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp to mark the last resting place 

 of her parents and other members of the household. Just north 

 of the monument, nestling under the big trees, stands the 

 original Gardner cabin, in practically the same condition as 

 when entered by savages on that spring morning. 



[127] 



Thatcher Monument. 



