Smithland, Iowa

Orrin B. Smith fell in love with this area while on a hunting trip in
1852 and decided to settle here. In 1854, he built a log cabin
school for the fledgling community that bears his name. The
original building is gone, but a replica was constructed during the
Great Depression by the National Youth Administration. It's
located at 221 Hickory Street (County Highway L-12), just south of
the Post Office.
At the time of the last census, Smithland had 221 residents.
There's still a small business district, which includes Time
Bandit Antique Clock Sales and Service, the Smithland Country
Store, and Uhl's Feed Store.
One mile north of Smithland on Iowa Highway 31, a red boulder
marks the campsite used by a renegade band of Sioux Indians
during the severe winter of 1856-57. Their leader was Inkpaduta,
which translates roughly as Red End or Scarlet Point. White
settlers accused the Indians of stealing corn and forced them to
leave the area in February 1857. Inkpaduta and his followers
traveled up the Little Sioux River to West Okoboji Lake, where
they killed six members of the Rowland Gardner family. Over the
next several days, 33 people in the Okoboji and Spirit Lake area
were killed by Inkpaduta and his men in what came to be known
as the Spirit Lake Massacre.