Iowa: Preserving Abbie Gardner’s Story
Okoboji Queen #1489 Helps Preserve Abbie Gardner’s Story
Two historic paintings chronicling the remarkable story of Abbie Gardner have been restored and will soon return to public display at the Abbie Gardner Cabin Visitor Center in Arnolds Park, Iowa. The restoration represents the latest preservation project undertaken by Okoboji Queen Questers #1489, a chapter with a long history of supporting the preservation of local heritage.
The two paintings are more than a century old and depict Gardner’s firsthand account of the 1857 Spirit Lake Conflict, including her experiences at her family’s homestead and her captivity with followers of Dakota leader Inkpaduta. One of the restored paintings depicts the final evening Gardner spent in captivity.
The paintings were sent to Des Moines in September 2024, where painting conservator Sara Boisen carefully cleaned and restored them. The project was made possible by a $3,300 International Questers Grant secured by Okoboji Queen #1489, with donations covering the remaining 20 percent of the restoration costs.
Following the conservation work, the restored paintings were returned to the Abbie Gardner Cabin Visitor Center, where they once again help tell Gardner’s story to visitors.
Members of Okoboji Queen were on hand to celebrate the return of the paintings, along with Michael Plummer, Historical Sites Manager for the State Historical Society of Iowa. The chapter was honored to see the results of its preservation efforts and to help return these important pieces of history to their permanent home.
The restoration is part of a larger effort to preserve a collection of four paintings associated with Gardner’s story. Two have now been restored, while the remaining two are awaiting conservation.
Maryanna Hubbard of Okoboji Queen #1489 said the chapter has already identified another conservator for the remaining paintings and plans to reapply for an International Questers Grant to fund their cleaning and restoration.
The Abbie Gardner Cabin Historic Site preserves a particularly complex and significant chapter in Iowa history. Gardner was only 13 years old when she survived the 1857 conflict and her subsequent captivity. Decades later, in 1891, she returned to the site of her family’s cabin and reclaimed it. She eventually opened the cabin to the public, creating one of Iowa’s earliest historic attractions.
Today, the cabin and its collections continue to tell Gardner’s story and provide visitors with an opportunity to reflect on this difficult chapter of Iowa’s past.
Through its support of the painting restoration, Okoboji Queen #1489 is helping preserve that story in the very objects that help tell it. The chapter’s work demonstrates how The Questers preservation grants can transform local history from artifacts in need of care into resources that can be shared with generations to come.