Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-02-15
Dr. waite NJ the Great lied
esfne STONE Quarry.

! Tie February numoSr oil the 'Amer.caa
! Naturalist" contains an interestir z articie
from the pen Of DIR. c. A. White, our State
| Geoogist, describing a visit made BY him
to the Red Pipes,one Quarry in Minnesota.
| from which the Indians, from time inine-
mortal, have obtained the material Tor
pipes. and which from the writings OF Cat
| In and Schoolcraft and the story Of His-
waths by Lonfellow, have become famous
| Our limits DO not permit US TO copy Inc
entire article, and we make summary OF
| some ofils mere practicsl points for the in
| terest Of our readers, who will be glad to
hear, even In this second hand and impcr-
feet way, from our distinguished State &c
eloglst and esteemed contributor.
Eiehey miles northwest Of Sioux City, in
the sxtseoe northwestern part Of lows, the
6rst red qasrtxits, In place, appears the
scattered 6oaldess extsnding down Into
Iews asA NoheoDka. Ten miles north Of
the State lie. - ~ DiG Sioux, there 10
magoioeent oxpoooso u this rock extend
ing acr6ss ~ river. The Quartzits 10 ola
nearly uniform brick red color. intensely
hard, quite regularly bodied. tho bedding
surfaces showing ripple markings as dis.
tinct a. any to DO seen on the sea shore OF
the present day, and which were made in
the same manner untold ages ago, when
this hard rock vas . mass OF incoherent
sand, the grains Of which are even now dis
tinc.ly visible. In few localities it pre-
sents the characters Of conglomerate, the
pebbles being 80 clearly sillieious as the
ofsand. At Sioux Falls, near the top Of the
exposure, layer Of Ppestone occurs, inter-
laced With the quar'zitc.
Thirty miles north of the Iowa and Min
ne sofa line, and within the latter State,
three or four miles from its western bound
ary, the famous quarry 10 found. As In
many other instsnces, distance has given
enehantment to the view. A narrow ledge
Of rocks in the broad shallow valley Of
little prairie creek, tying entirely below tho
general prairie level, constitute oil there Is
Of the Great Pipestens Quarry. The
principal exposure Of rocks 10 absut .
mile in length from north to south. Ii
faces the west, and reaches ito greatest
perpendicular height, about twssty FEET
where "Gitche Mantle, the mighty" d
supposed to have stood when he took his
wonderful smoke, and where the brook
falls over il into the plain below. An
eighth Of mile west Of this 10 the princi.
pal deposit Of Pipsstons, occupying shal.
low ditch quarter Of . mile long. The
Pipestons 10 ia some vi hat thin and usually
shalsy layers, aud only from eight 10
twelve inches in aggregate thickness, and
10 the lowest aver found there. The red
quartaitc rests Immediately upon il, and 10
feus or i've feet thick ct the ditch, and
must be removed to get the Pipestone.
This has been accomplished with great
labor by the Indians, for they do not even
now use suitable implements 10 remove il.
The "Medicine Rocks" towards tho south
trn end Of the plain, rest directly upon the
| glacier smoothed surface Of the quArtzite,
and are covered thickly with Indian heiro.
glyphics, made by pscking the hard surface
with sharp pointed stones, Of grotesqas
fern representing persons. turtles, etc.
The Indians cut their pipes from large
pieces Of Pipsstons, using generally, strong
pieces Of ysang ash wood. with the pi!h
punched out, for stems.
The concluding paragraph Of DR.. Whites
article which ws have thus hastily COM
dsnsed, 10 IS follows:
But some one asks, "What is this Pipe
stone. and what is its composition?' Ii is
chemically clay (silica,e Of alumina) col
ored brick red with per oxide Of Iron. II
is too heavy for pipes for white men, and
is valued by them almost entirely for its
legendary interest. II ia heavier, harder,
and in every respect inferior to meerschaum
-silicase Of magnesis-yet tho purei spec.
linens may be worked without much dith-
Guilty With common saw. file. or knife.
and readily takes and retains a considera.
BILE polish. Geologicslly it is metamorphic
clay, as quartzite is metamorphic sandstone.
II was originally layer Of clay intercalated
between layers Of sandstone, and tho same
metaphoric action that changed the latter
to . quartzite. also converted the clay into
Pipes, one burlington Haoleye.