The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-04
INTERESTING COLLECTION
Secured by an Expedition Sent Out
by tho Bureau Of Eth
nology.
5Quarrles Where Indians Have
From Time Immemorial Pro-
cured Pipeclay.
"copper" Mines Worked before COlun@bus
Landed ON C~ontlnsnt-EOr
the Worlds Fair.

An expedition sent out by the bureau Of
ethnology for the purpose Of making col
l%ections to illustrate aboriginal quarryinR
and mining at the Columbian exposition.
has just returned TO Washington with q re-
of objects secured. writes Rene Bachs In
the st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Among these objects are . number Of
pipes md fragments Of pipeatone obtained
from the famous pipestone quarry in
southwest Minnesota. whence the Indians
of North America have got the material for
their pipes since very ancient days, long be-
fore Columbus landed upon this continent.
From that time down to the present the
working of this same mineral deposit has
been kept MP continuously, even the avaRe
Sioux travelling annually 200 miles to spend
a month at the quarry. For centuries the
place was regarded a. sacred. and all tribes
met there. preserving peace reIiRiously
while on the SPOT.
For miles around the quarry the plains
are covered with the rings which mark the
sites whore Indian lodges were once estab-
lished, and everywhere are scattered frsg-
ments OF pipestone representing the waste
of manufacture. This material seams to
have been selected by the savagea because
of its beauty and s~oftness when fresh. The
latter quality renders it easy to carve. while
subsequently 1t becomes extremely hard.
lts color 10 an exquisite "Indian red." Much
Of the carving work done on the pipes is of
highly artistic quality. Some Of the spsci-
mems secured by Prof. Holmes, who made
the collections referred to, would do credit
to the most skilled workers in mserschaum.
The pipestone deposit described il the
only one of its kind in shis country. 1t IL
. stratum of an unusually hard red clay, the
edge of which is exposed along the side Of
a hill. At the beginning there could have
been no difficulty in procuring it from its
native bed, but the labor Of quarfyinR it
has become very great, owing to the fact
that the edge of the stratum has been re-
moved, and. in order to get more, it ia neo
essary to dig down through several feet Of
quartzite. The stratum being horizontal,
the slant OF the hill covering 1t makes tho
toll Incidental to working the quarry pro.
Rressiyely more severe. Pickaxe and shovel
are the implements utilized for the purpose
BY the Indians, who have not as yet learned
the art of smelling.
On account Of the difficulties attending
the mining of the pipestoue it is quite a
precious substance. a piece one foot square
being worth from 81 to 50 In the crude.
The stratum described is about twelve
inches in thickness and seems to be evenly
continuous for an indefinite distance
through the hill. However, only two
inches of thickness is Of good quality,
being smooth to the touch and free from
grit. OF recent years tho Indians have
1nA PnaH hn~ tn SnIu~ thoF Nsx,nn ,uskk c:l-..
and Other metals, performing this kind Of
work in a manner very artistic. They do
all the pipe-making, the labor involved
being too great to pay the white man for
his time. White people buy the pipestone
and make many other articles out of il for
ture pieces of furniture and trinkets.
The fact that this pipestone quarry was
regarded as sacred is indicated by extern
sive photographs on the rocks in the vicinity
of certain huge boulders found on the scot,
representing aboriginal gods and other
things of religious Significance.
Prof. Holmes also visited the wonderful
prehistoric copper mines of Isle Koyale,
in the northern part of Lake Superior.
These were worked long before Columbus
was born by he Indians, who pro-
cured from them metal for their i'm
plements and ornaments. Thu coppsr
occurs there in masses of the pure or
native" metal. imbedded in the Volcanic
rocks, and the primitive miners were aoous.
toned to dig it out with no better tools
than stone sledges., Although the island IL
not adapted for human habitation, tribes
from all the surrounding country gathered
there in ancient times for the purpose of
obtaining the precious material. In order
to find it a great deal of ''prospectlng'' had
to be done, and thus the surface of the hills
to-day are everywhere found covered with
old pits and trenches, partly filed up and
overRrown with pine forests. :,
In these ancient holes are discovered
marks OF use al mining tools. So thickly
are such rude tools scattered about that
not less than $1,000 of them are to be seel,
on the surface OF the ground, affordinR an
illustration of the extensive character of
the work that was carried on. Tho
copper was sometimes found in masses
so big that they could not be re-
gets of pure metal have since furnished
bonanzas to the whites. who for wears
made a business of exploring the old work
ings in search of them. One nugget
weighed L, 200 pounds. and because it was
not practicable to cut it up or blast it into
pieces it had to be conveyed, bodily to tho
lake shore and carried away in 4 vessel,
requiring much ingenuity and tho best
modern appliances for the successful aC-
complishment of the task.
Whom the Indians came across such 4
mass of copper the best they could do was
to break of = few projecting pieces of it.
The business of p ospecting for such aban-
doned nuggets was finally given up BY the
whites because they ceased to find enough
OF them to pay, although more than 1000
pits remain untouched BY them. After the
miners of antiquity had got the copper
they hammered it into tools and orna-
ments, which were carried into all
parts Of North America and distrib-
uted by trade. such articles, for which the
material was originally obtained from Isls
Royale. are found to-day II mounds and
graves throughout this country. This ex-
ploration BY the bureau of ethnoloQy of
these great prehistoric workings for metal
is tho first that has been made, and the re-
suits, which will be illustrated by COLLECTIONS
exhibited rt the Worlds fair, throw a new
light upon Shs aboriginal people who have
left behind them proofs of suoh gigantic
labors. IA Ian f
Considering the vast extent of the ooun-
try and the lack Of but the most primitive
means of transportation. it ia certainly a.
tonishing to discover how general was the
system Of trade existing among the savage
tribes OF North Amerlca at the time when
Columbus landed. The pipes. for which
tho material was procured at the quarry
previously described, were distrib-
uted BY barter from the Atlantic 10
the Pacific. just a. was the case
from she mines of Isle koyale. II was moth
ing unusua for traders TO journey ali the
way from the gulf of Mexico up tho valley
OF the Mississippi to tho very source of the
Father OF Waters. exchanging eoods WITH
the tribes ON the Wav. Driai moIlp.la ~