The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-01-25
WHERE THE pIpEsToNE IS.
The Quarry Mentioned In Hiawathn
Rocks of ,hc Three Maidenn
Honored by Longfeilow.


little city of Pipestone, Mimi, are three
freaks of nature that will well repay
visit from the lovers OF the curious
and the beautiful. The first is water
| fall or cataract, which, when the
stream that feeds It is swollen by the
melting SHOWS and spring rains, is
miniature Niagara and in point of
beauty rivals many of the famed water
| falls of the east. The second is the IA
nous Red Pipestone quarry, the scene
of the opening of Longfellow's beauti-
full poem, "Hiawatha," and the third is
group of immense rocks-also spoken
of in "Hiawatha" as the Three Maidens
that have stood for ages as land
mark to guide the Indians TO the only
spot in the known world where the
sacred pipestone could be found.
The waterfall, quarry and Three
Maidens are all located on the Indian ,
reservation, which is one mile square,
adjoining the corporation OF Pipestone
On the north. The reservation belongs
10 the Dakotahs or what is better known
by its French name as the Sioux nation,
but is claimed by the Yankton Sioux
Several years since determined effort
was made by committee Of ciiizensct
Pipestone to purchase it, rs they did
not want so large tract of land so
near this city lying idle, but the In
dans would not part with il for love or
money. The next best thing to do was
10 see if something could not be done
with ii even if ii remained in the In
dams possession. An application was
made TO congress, an appropriation OF
$50, 900 was obtained and a substantial
school building, was built on one corner
of the land. The school has proved so
successful that a second building the
size of the first is being built to accom-
modate the ever increasing number of
pupils.
The poem of Hiawatha begins:
On the mountains OF the prairie,
On the great Red Pipestone quarries.
and anyone unacquainted with the
neighborhood would naturally suppose
that it was hilly, to say the least. On
the contrary, the country is quite level,
there not being even what in eastern
parlance would be called small hill"
in the neighborhood. The quarry lies
in about the center of the bed of what
is apparently prehistoric lake, and
when first discovered the stone cropped
out at the surface, but the continual
quarrying for ages has extended the
quarry about GO rods toward the south.
and as the dip OF the vein" is toward
the south ii is now necessary to re-
move from six to eight feet of shale
and dirt. before the pure stone is
reached.
No one but the Indians are allowed
10 quarry il and every summer they
come in squads from distant reserva-
tions to get supplies of the stone with
which to make pipes, knickkEacks and
ornaments that they carve out of il.
both for their own use and for sale and
trade 10 the white man. They also fire.
quently sell the stone in the rough to
the white men, who, with a turning
lathe, can work it up much better than
they can.
The stone is known to the scientific
world as catlinite, being so called in
honor of Catlin. the celebrated his
torian of the Indians. who was the first
white man TO set eyes on the quarry,
while gathering material for his His
tory of the Indians Of the Northwest"
il 1886. Two years later the Nicollet
exploring expedition, one Of the chief
members being John c. Fremont.
near the quarry. record of the
date of their visit having been carved
in the rocks near the waterfall that is
still plaini3 decipherable.
The legend of the naming of the
Three Maidens, TO the effect that they
were so called because three Indian
saved their lives by hiding
under them years ago, during one of
their numerous wars. is told every Wis
itor TO the rocks, and legends without
end are related in connection with both
the quarry and the waterfall, but they
are gradually, like the Indians, dying
out: Had the white men had their way
the Sacred Pipestone quarry would by
this time have been nearly a thing of
the past, but through the Indians sim
retaining possession il is stiil SO little
from what it was when Long
fellow wrote his poe m that ii does not
AXE much Of a stretch OF imagination.
toward dusk Of summer
evening, TO conjure up troop of dusky
warriors in single file headed for the
Mecca of all the northern Indians. or.
when the shrek OF an engine on the
railroad that passes within short dis
lance Of the quarry strikes suddenly ON