Home

Navigation

  • Home
  • Groups
    • Public groups
  • Field trips
    • Public field trips
    • Field trip destinations
  • About us
    • About Us
    • Community Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact HomeschoolRecess

Location

Javascript is required to view this map.
Home

Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life

  • Museum
  • Dakotah
  • Native Americans
  • pioneer

Location

2097 Larpenteur Ave W
St Paul, MN 55113
United States
44° 59' 31.9416" N, 93° 11' 19.086" W
See map: Google Maps

Phone: 651-646-8629
Email: info@rchs.com
Website: www.rchs.com/gbbsfm2.htm

The story of the Gibbs Museum begins in 1833 near Batavia, New York. Jane DeBow was taken by a missionary family traveling west to work among the Dakotah around Fort Snelling. In 1835 Jane arrived at Fort Snelling as a child of six, and lived among Cloud Man’s band of Dakotah on the shores of Lake Calhoun in present-day Minneapolis. Jane learned to speak Dakotah and gained an intimate knowledge of the Dakotah way of life. The Dakotah gave her the name, Zitkadan Usa Win (Little Bird That Was Caught).

Jane’s fascinating story is told in the children’s book, ‘Jane Gibbs: Little Bird That Was Caught,’ available from the Ramsey County Historical Society. Later, in Illinois, Jane met and married Heman Gibbs. In 1849, the year Minnesota became a territory, the newlyweds came up the Mississippi River and bought 160 acres, the land on which the Gibbs farm house still stands. At first, Jane and Heman lived in a 10 ft. by 12 ft. dugout sod house. The remains of this ‘soddy’ have been excavated. Visitors to the museum can see this excavation site and a replica sod house. In 1854, Jane and Heman built a larger cabin. With a growing family, additions to the farm house were made in 1867 and 1873. A trail leading from the Lake Calhoun area to the northern rice lakes crossed the Gibbs farm.

Jane renewed her friendship with the local Dakotah who would stop to visit her on their way to gather wild rice. Each year Cloud Man’s Dakotah band, sometimes numbering as many as 150, camped on the Gibbs farm to rest and visit Jane. Often they camped for as long as three weeks. Many of these people were Jane’s childhood friends and appreciated Heman and Jane’s hospitality.

As a child Jane experienced the traditional Dakotah way of living. As an adult she watched the changes in their culture and the deterioration of their circumstances that ultimately led to the Dakotah Conflict of 1862.

The Gibbs Museum offers a unique look at the two cultures that Jane knew and their methods of housing, agriculture, and their family structure. The Dakotah lived according to the seasons. In the summer, they lived in bark lodges and planted vegetable gardens. In the fall, winter, and spring, they moved about as they hunted, fished, gathered wild rice, trapped, and tapped trees for syrup.

Today visitors can tour the Gibbs family farm house. The Dakotah style tipi and replica bark lodge allow visitors to explore the traditional lifeways of the Dakotah. Visitors can observe a native prairie, a Dakotah medicine garden, and traditional Dakotah and pioneer crop gardens. Visitors also will find the original white barn built by the Gibbs family in 1910 and the red barn, designed by prominent architect Edwin Lundie. The Stoen School, built in the 1880s, was moved from Chippewa County, Minnesota in 1966. The schoolhouse is furnished with wooden school desks, slate boards, McGuffey’s Readers, a pump organ, and a working school bell.


Restrooms are located in the red barn; family restrooms and diaper changing stations are available

The 2nd story of the house is not accessible to wheelchairs, strollers or wagons, but otherwise the site is fully accessible. However, while strollers and wagons are not banned, they are not recommended for group tours.

website: 
http://www.rchs.com/
  • Review this Destination

Public field trips at Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life

 

Homeschool Adventures
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Preschool Adventure: Pioneer and Dakotah Life (Maple Snow Treat)
Costumed interpreters tell of the real life relationship of the Gibbs family and Cloud Man’s band of Dakota living in the mid 1800’s. During this hands-on tour, families will visit the soddy, bark lodge, teepee, and farm animals, and learn about wool from sheep to shawl (shearing, carding, washing, spinning, weaving). Children will make and enjoy a traditional Dakotah treat of maple syrup...

 

Homeschool Adventures
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Dakotah Life and Corn Husk Doll Making
Costumed interpreters tell the story of Jane (DeBow) Gibbs early childhood among the Dakotah Indians with a focus on local Dakotah culture. During this hands-on tour, families will visit the Dakota Camps and explore the seasonal migrations of Eastern Dakota people in the mid-1800s as well as tour the summer bark lodge, tipi, and maple sugar and wild rice camps. Children will make a corn husk doll...

 

Homeschool Adventures
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Pioneer Life and Corn Husk Doll Making
Families will learn about the life of Minnesota pioneers while visiting the Gibbs family's soddy, farmhouse (including the winter and summer kitchens, the parlor, the office, the bedrooms (one for the school teacher), and the pen, where the hired men boarded), the one room schoolhouse, and the market farm. Children will make a corn husk doll.. Note: Parents may participate in corn husk doll...

User login

  • Create new account
  • Request new password

HomeschoolRecess.com does not assume responsibility for content provided by third parties.

By using this website you agree to be bound by its Terms and Conditions of Use.

Copyright © 2009–2016.